The Phoenix Suns and Monty Williams, the NBA’s reigning coach of the year, have agreed on a long-term contract extension, sources told ESPN on Saturday.
Williams, who has been voted Coach of the Year by the National Basketball Coaches Association for consecutive seasons, had two years left of his original five-year contract and is now under contract for several more years, sources said.
Williams’ impact on the Suns’ organization has been profound, including a trip to the 2021 NBA Finals and a franchise-record 64 regular-season wins last season. Going 149-78 (.656) in his three seasons, Williams brought responsibility and purpose to a wayward Suns program by transforming a team that had won 19 games prior to his arrival into one of the best teams in the league.
The Suns joined the 1969-70 New York Knicks last season and were the only teams to finish a season with a better road win percentage than the home win percentage of all other teams. The Suns led 47-0 after three quarters – the best of the shot-clock era. The only other two teams to go undefeated in this regular season scenario were LeBron James – the 2017-18 Cleveland Cavaliers and the 2019-20 Los Angeles Lakers.
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Among the Suns’ dominance last season in the regular season: a franchise-record 18-game winning streak and three separate winning streaks of more than nine games in a season in which the rest of the NBA combined four streaks of nine or more wins would have.
The Suns were the only team to finish in the top five in both offense and defense efficiency and went 33-9 in clutch games — the best record in such situations in the NBA since the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors.
Despite having the best league and franchise record of 64 wins, the Suns were beaten in Game 7 at home to the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Semifinals. Phoenix reached the NBA Finals in 2021, losing to the Milwaukee Bucks in six games.
Last season, Williams’ leadership was tested by the distractions of an NBA investigation into owner Robert Sarver’s behavior, sourced from an ESPN investigation.
ESPN’s Stats & Information contributed to this story.