"You could talk to him about what was going on in games even at his young age," said Popovich.
Williams played just 29 minutes in the postseason, but made an early impression on Popovich. That group won 59 games but fell in the second round to the Utah Jazz. It was a group that featured three other future NBA head coaches in Doc Rivers, Avery Johnson and Vinny Del Negro, assembled by then-general manager Gregg Popovich the season before he himself became a head coach. WILLIAMS WAS TRADED midway through his sophomore season in 1995-96 to the San Antonio Spurs. I thought our guys came in with this deep respect for the process, the journey and other teams that have done it. "I don't think anybody on our team walked into the gym, into our program tipping their cap because we made it to the Finals," he said. While Phoenix appears to have figured things out, only improving since its Finals run, Williams can't help but be humble. The game is still teaching him about life as much as he teaches his players about the game. He spends off nights not only pouring over film, but paging through Bible verses with his children. He invited an assistant coach to co-pilot his news conference when Phoenix clinched its Finals berth to share in the celebration. Williams admitted to crying before a Suns playoff game while reflecting on his overall journey. He is someone who seemingly understands what matters in life, but can't escape the purpose basketball brings him. Many would describe Williams the same way as evidenced by winning the NBCA Coach of the Year award last season. They've got championships, they got an MVP, they've got a Defensive Player of the Year, they've got Steve Kerr who is probably the best coach in the league right now." I just have to be honest with you," Williams said. I mean, as a coach you try to downplay it and act like it wasn't a big game, but the reality of it is, it was. The Suns won, edging past the Warriors, 104-96, despite losing Devin Booker in the second quarter to a pulled hamstring. The Dubs were a league-best 18-2 and on a seven-game win streak of their own. The Suns were 17-3 coming in, fresh off a road win over Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets. The 17th win in the streak, which tied the previous high water mark for Phoenix set by Steve Nash's seven-seconds-or-less squad, came against the Golden State Warriors. Phoenix reeled off a franchise-record 18 straight victories. The Suns would go on to win that game, 123-111, and stay unbeaten for the next 29 days. 4, Phoenix had won two games straight and was preparing to host the Houston Rockets.
And so in that, you have to let guys sometimes figure it out." "I feel like our program and my leadership style is to produce leaders, not followers. "We have a pretty experienced group now and they've been through some things so we didn't want to tell them what to say or tell them what to feel," Williams told ESPN. Aware of the report's impending release, Williams gathered the Suns on the practice court to share what he knew about the allegations and opened the floor for his team to react in real time together. And then, in the NBA Finals, Phoenix went up 2-0 on the Milwaukee Bucks only to lose four straight and miss out on hoisting the Larry O'Brien Trophy.Īfter an underwhelming 1-3 start to this season, alleged instances of racism and misogyny by Suns owner Robert Sarver were published by ESPN.
#Monty williams series
Last season, making the franchise's first Western Conference finals in a decade was met with the news that point guard Chris Paul would have to start the series away from the team after coming down with the coronavirus.
How a journeyman found himself chasing a return to the NBA FinalsįOR MOST OF Monty Williams' tenure coaching the Phoenix Suns, the downs have followed the ups.Īn 8-0 record in the NBA bubble two seasons ago still resulted in missing the play-in game to qualify for the postseason.
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