2022 midseason NBA awards ballot: Coach of the Year
- Monty Williams, Suns
- J.B. Bickerstaff, Cavaliers
- Taylor Jenkins, Grizzlies
Monty Williams should have won Coach of the Year last season, and there’s no reason he shouldn’t win (what should be again) this season. The Suns are the No. 1 team in the NBA and no team shows more discipline on both sides of the ball.
Phoenix plays like a finely-tuned, well-oiled sports car — equal parts explosive and economic. Sure, Chris Paul deserves credit, but the entire roster plays smart, selfless basketball. That extends beyond the point guard and to the coaching staff at a certain point.
That said, the two surprise up-and-coming contenders (Cleveland and Memphis) deserve love too. J.B. Bickerstaff has done an excellent job cultivating talent for the Cavs, who have seen growth from top to bottom. The same goes for Memphis, where Taylor Jenkins has a bunch of young, exciting players operating at the highest possible level, with a locker room culture most teams can only dream of.
As always, there are certain mainstays in this conversation who can’t be ignored. Erik Spoelstra and Ty Lue are arguably the best coaches in basketball, while Billy Donovan’s success in Chicago and Steve Kerr’s resurgence in Golden State are impossible to ignore.