Spurs Executive Monty Williams Wins Inaugural Sager Strong Award

Monty Williams, the San Antonio Spurs' vice president of basketball operations, was the first recipient of the Sager Strong Award on Monday night during the NBA Awards show.

TurnerSportsPR shared the video package that preceded Williams earning the award, which is named in honor of legendary broadcaster Craig Sager, who died in December from acute myeloid leukemia:

Williams' wife, Ingrid, died in February 2016 after a car accident in Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma City Thunder, for whom Monty was an assistant at the time, shared his eulogy at Ingrid's funeral service:

In March 2016, the Thunder announced Williams would be out for the remainder of the year, and last June, Thunder head coach Billy Donovan confirmed he wouldn't return to the coaching staff.

Last July, Williams told ESPN's Hannah Storm his memory of Ingrid lived on after her death.

"I still text her. It's not like I know she's going to answer, but it's just part of what I do," he said (via For The Win's Charles Curtis). "I'll go outside at night and I'll just look up in the sky and start talking to her. When you've been with somebody for 26 years and married for 20, you would just have to be around us to know what we were like."

In September, Williams accepted a position in the Spurs' front office. The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski reported in March he turned down the head coach post for the Illinois Fighting Illini because he's eying a return to an NBA bench.