Unbelievable: Due to a setback, the head coach of the Phoenix Suns announced his departure from the team.
Unbelievable: The Phoenix Suns head coach announced his retirement from the team due to a setback.
Monty Williams was sacked as head coach of the Phoenix Suns on Monday, the franchise said.In a press statement, James Jones, President of Basketball Operations and General Manager, stated, “Monty has been foundational to our success over the past four seasons.”
“We are incredibly appreciative of all that Monty has done for the Suns and the Valley community. Even though I had a hard time deciding, I’m excited to keep working to create a championship team.
As to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Suns are still changing ownership at every level of the business. This decision was made by the new owner, Mat Ishbia.
“Ishbia has assumed complete control over the team’s basketball operations, having negotiated the deal for Kevin Durant in February and now Williams’ termination. Williams received the news over the phone on Saturday night from Suns general manager James Jones, according to Wojnarowski.
The team’s six-game 2023 playoff defeat against the Denver Nuggets preceded the firing by barely two days.
Phoenix will now face competition in the coaching free-agent market this offseason from the Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors, and Detroit Pistons.
Williams played in four seasons, going 194-115 (.628). The Suns went to the NBA Finals in 2021 after missing the playoffs by a close margin in the COVID-19-shortened 2019–20 season. The previous two years, they lost in the conference semifinals.
As the Suns’ summer gets underway, talk of a Deandre Ayton deal has already begun.
In the 2021 Finals, the Suns wasted a 2-0 lead against the Milwaukee Bucks and then another 2-0 lead against the Dallas Mavericks in the 2022 conference semifinals, losing both games. That resulted in a rout at home in Game 7.
This year, after the Suns acquired star Kevin Durant in a blockbuster trade, Phoenix overcame a 2-0 deficit against the top-seeded Denver Nuggets to win a non-competitive Game 6 elimination, which was also played at home and included a 30-point halftime deficit.
When the team was owned by former owner Robert Sarver in July 2022, Williams consented to a multi-year agreement. For the 2023–24 season, he has one year left on his initial five-year contract before the extension begins.
Before 2022–2023—when Williams took over as head coach of the Suns before the 2019–20 NBA season, Phoenix showed growth in each of his seasons.
For the first time since 1993, Williams guided the Suns to the NBA Finals in the 2020–21 season.
The Suns improved to 34 wins in his first season after finishing with 19 the year before. During the 2020 NBA Bubble, Williams was a member of the Suns, where he went 8-0 in a run that would define the next two seasons.
With a 45-37 record, the Suns placed fourth in the Western Conference this past season. Despite the absence of starters Devin Booker (29 games), Chris Paul (23 games), and Deandre Ayton (15 games) due to injury, they managed to finish ninth in the NBA in net rating.
For better or worse, the head coach gained a reputation for being a little adamant about his opinions and some players.
Over the course of the previous year and a half, he and center Deandre Ayton have worked through what seemed to be a strained relationship, which was exemplified by Williams benching Ayton in a Game 7 loss against the Dallas Mavericks in 2022 to end Phoenix’s season. Williams, a free agent at the time, allegedly never contacted Ayton again or the Indiana Pacers after signing an offer sheet that Phoenix matched.
