NBA team basketball executives have elect Phoenix Suns General Manager James Jones as the victor of the 2020-21 NBA Basketball Executive of the Year Award, the NBA declared today. This is the first NBA Basketball Executive of the Year Award for Jones, who has worked two terms as the Suns’ general manager and four terms overall in the team’s front office.
Jones get nine of the 30 first-place votes and gain 65 total points from the voting panel, which consist one basketball executive from each team. Utah Jazz Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Dennis Lindsey finished in second place with 61 points (nine first-place votes). Brooklyn Nets General Manager Sean Marks finished in third place with 51 points (five first-place votes). Executives were given five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.
With Jones heading the Basketball Operations department, Phoenix put together a roster that placed the second-best record in the NBA (51-21) and the fifth-highest single-season winning percentage in franchise history (.708). The Suns made the NBA Playoffs for the first time since the 2009-10 season. Manager Monty Williams, whose hiring in May 2019 was supervised by Jones, ends in second spot at for the 2020-21 NBA Coach of the Year Award.