Sadly, the head coach of Phoenix Suns has announced the sacking of a legendary player because he wants to sign a new deal.
Sadly, the head coach of Phoenix Suns has announced the sacking of a legendary player because he wants to sign a new deal.
Two years after making it to the NBA Finals and one year after he was overwhelmingly voted coach of the year, Monty Williams has been sacked by the Phoenix Suns.
Williams won sixty-three percent of his games over his four successful regular seasons in Phoenix.
However, the Suns’ three years of postseason futility was probably too much to bear, especially considering that they had lost their last two home elimination games by a combined 30 points at halftime.
Devin Booker and Phoenix Suns head coach Monty Williams. (Photo courtesy of Getty.)
In the NBA Finals of 2021, the Suns led 2-0 but lost the following four games in a row. In the previous two seasons, they were defeated in the second round on both occasions.
The Suns have emerged as yet another prominent coaching vacancy following the firings of Mike Budenholzer by Milwaukee and Nick Nurse by Toronto. In the 2021 NBA Finals, Budenholzer was the coach who overcame Phoenix’s 2-0 lead, while Nurse won the 2019 NBA title with the Raptors.
After the closure of the deal that granted him ownership of the Suns, this is the second significant move made by new owner Mat Ishbia in just three months.
Ishbia approved a sensational transaction in February that sent Kevin Durant to Phoenix and provided the Suns with a nucleus that included Chris Paul, Devin Booker, Durant, and former No. 1 pick Deandre Ayton. The organization felt this combination would be sufficient to win a championship.
Last May, Monty Williams and Deandre Ayton. (Photo courtesy of Getty.)
It was unsuccessful, at least not this year. Ayton missed the season finale, Booker and Durant looked exhausted by the end, and Paul sustained another injury during the playoffs to add to his already lengthy list of post-season ailments.
Following the season, Williams placed the blame on himself.
“I take that personally, not having our team ready to play in the biggest game of the year,” Williams stated. “I take great delight in that, and it simply didn’t happen… I have to examine everything I do closely in light of it.”
Evidently, Ishbia considered things carefully as well and made the decision to alter.
Who knows what other developments might be in store? With a new coach in charge, the personnel and the system will undoubtedly alter.
Just four years separated Williams as the coach, with the fifth-longest tenure with his current team as of Saturday. In San Antonio, Gregg Popovich has held the position since 1996; in Miami, Erik Spoelstra, since 2008; in Golden State, Steve Kerr, since 2014; and in Denver, Michael Malone, since 2015.
Phoenix joins the Raptors, Bucks, and Detroit Pistons as the four teams having an opening at the moment.
Only Kerr and Spoelstra remain with the team they led to the NBA Finals out of the previous nine coaches to lead a team that far.
The franchise has fired Williams in addition to Budenholzer, Nurse, Tyronn Lue, Ime Udoka of Boston, Frank Vogel of the Los Angeles Lakers, David Blatt of Cleveland, and Tyronn Lue.
