SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake City Stars have been rewarded in a significant way following a season that saw them have the franchise’s best finish in over a decade.
Head coach Martin Schiller was named the Dennis Johnson G League Coach of the Year, while vice president of basketball operations Bart Taylor, who also serves as the Utah Jazz’s director of scouting, was named league Basketball Executive of the Year.
When the G League season was stopped because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Stars sat atop the Western Conference standings with a 30-12 record, which was already the most wins the club had tallied since coming to Salt Lake City from Boise in 2016 and the most for the franchise since the 2008-2009 campaign.
Schiller was selected in a vote by the league’s 28 head coaches and general managers and Taylor earned his honor in a vote of NBA G League team basketball executives.
“Martin and Bart have worked tirelessly, often behind the scenes and out of the spotlight, to do all they can to put the Jazz in a position to win thanks to their work with the Stars,” Jazz executive vice president of basketball operations Dennis Lindsey said in a statement. “When we moved the team to Salt Lake City in 2016, we had a vision for how the Stars would fit in and play a critical role in our operations with the Jazz. Today’s recognitions are well-deserved and we’re proud to share in their celebrations.”
Seven Stars players also have appeared in NBA games this season, William Howard for the Houston Rockets and Juwan Morgan, Miye Oni, Rayjon Tucker, Nigel Williams-Goss, Jarrell Brantley and Justin Wright-Foreman for the Jazz.
Schiller joins some good company in the Jazz organization, as head coach Quin Snyder and assistant coach Alex Jensen are previous winners of the G League Coach of the Year award. Snyder won it for the 2008-2009 season with the Austin Toros and Jensen did for the 2012-2013 campaign with the Canton Charge.