Suns' Monty Williams to Coach Team LeBron in 2022 NBA All-Star Game
January 31, 2022
Monty Williams already coaches arguably the best team in the NBA, but he will have a chance to coach a group of the best players in the league after he clinched his spot as one of the All-Star Game coaches.
Williams' Phoenix Suns defeated the San Antonio Spurs 115-110 on Sunday, meaning they will be atop the Western Conference standings at the All-Star break regardless of what happens until then.
That means Williams will coach Team LeBron in the exhibition:
The head coach will be joined by his staff for the game in Cleveland on Feb. 20.
They will lead Team LeBron as the Western Conference coaches because LeBron James was the leading vote-getter in the Western Conference. Whichever coaching staff is leading the Eastern Conference through Feb. 6 will coach Team Durant after Kevin Durant tallied the most votes on that side of the standings.
James and Durant will be joined by Stephen Curry, Ja Morant, Nikola Jokic, Andrew Wiggins, DeMar DeRozan, Trae Young, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid as All-Star starters. The reserves will be announced Thursday on TNT.
Durant and James will first pick from the starters and then the reserves during the All-Star Game draft.
As for Williams' Suns, they are 40-9 and 3.5 games clear of the Golden State Warriors following the victory over the Spurs. Chris Paul dazzled with 20 points, 19 assists and eight rebounds, while Devin Booker (28 points) and Mikal Bridges (26 points) were the go-to scorers.
This is Williams' third season as the head coach of Phoenix, and he led the team to the NBA Finals last season.
Anything short of a championship this time around would fall short of the team's goals, All-Star Game or not.