“This will work out,” said Williams, the Thunder’s associate head coach at the time. At her memorial service Williams delivered a brave and stirring eulogy that saw him acknowledge his emotional ache while releasing himself from any bitterness toward the driver’s family, even as anger and grief encroached. Among other loved ones she left behind five children, including three who miraculously survived the crash.
#Monty williams driver
And it held Williams together in the dark hours after a driver high on methamphetamines crossed the center line of a downtown Oklahoma City street and smashed headfirst into an oncoming car in February 2016 at the wheel was his wife of 20 years, Ingrid, who died from her injuries. A 46-36 record, good enough for a seven seed in the playoffs, was the proof.īut of course their particular bond, which was hard to miss in the cathartic bear hug Williams and Paul shared on-court after besting the Clippers in the conference championships, runs deeper than mere wins and losses. And yet underneath all that clashing, was an undeniable chemistry. Williams was too tough, Paul so stubborn. At the time Paul was the frustrated superstar with a wandering eye toward greener pastures (remember that Lakers trade that got nixed?), and Williams was the league’s youngest head coach, a 38-year-old rookie seven seasons removed from his own playing career – with a point to prove.
#Monty williams full
But all Paul did was transform the Suns from a flash in the pan to the NBA’s second-best team over the course of a full season, while distinguishing himself as a darkhorse candidate for league MVP.Īnd yet: the surprise success becomes less so when you realize that Paul and Williams overlapped during the 2010-11 season in New Orleans. When Chris Paul was added to that crew via an offseason exchange with Oklahoma City, it seemed as if the Suns would’ve been better off trading for Cliff Paul given the haul of young players they gave away for the aging point god’s draft rights. There, the Suns quickly became all the rage, ticking off wins in all eight of the games with a Mouseketeer-aged cast that included top rookie Deandre Ayton, second-year forward Mikal Bridges and first-time All-Star Devin Booker. And Williams’s Suns, their losing record notwithstanding, proved just good enough in the West to justify an invitation into the NBA’s playoff seeding tournament inside the Orlando bubble. But then something happened on the Suns’ way to the NBA cellar: Covid-19.Īfter a two-month break, the NBA season restarted inside a tight bubble in Orlando. If anything, Williams, who guided the New Orleans Pelicans for five disappointing seasons, risked inflicting further harm on his 44% coaching record as the Suns sat 13 games under. And while, again, there’s no denying Thibodeau’s miracle on 34th street, especially given the organization’s singular fetish for self-harm, remember: two years ago, Phoenix was the furthest thing from a dream job when it finally fell to the 49-year-old Williams, a former utility swingman whose nine-year playing odyssey began in New York as a first-round pick out of Notre Dame. Williams, for his part, was gracious in defeat, joking “I’m grateful to have a job in this economy” – a loaded punchline to be sure. No disrespect to Tom Thibodeau, who deserves a key to New York City for whipping the woebegone Knicks into a playoff team, but it should have been Williams who was named the NBA’s coach of the year. But if there’s anyone who can get them moving forward again, it’s Monty Williams.
With their season at a dark hour, the Suns suddenly find themselves backpedaling toward the wall. The Bucks have all the momentum, while the home team could well slide into an irrecoverable position if the visitors should manage to steal one on the road, given the 82% rate at which Game 5 victors go on to take the whole chalupa.
#Monty williams series
Now a pivotal Game 5 looms on Saturday in Phoenix with the series tied at 2-2.
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