After four seasons with the team, head coach Monty Williams of the Phoenix Suns is fired.
Following their elimination from the playoffs by the Denver Nuggets on Saturday, the Phoenix Suns dismissed Monty Williams. The team’s president of basketball operations, James Jones, stated, “We are filled with gratitude for everything Monty has contributed to the Suns.”
The president of basketball operations and general manager of the Suns, James Jones, stated, “Monty has been foundational to our success over the past four seasons.” “We are filled with gratitude for everything Monty has contributed to the Suns and to the Valley community.”
The Suns had a 2-0 lead in the 2021 NBA Finals, only to lose in six games. They lost in the second round in each of the last two seasons, both times in an embarrassing home finale – last year to Dallas, this year to Denver.
“Neither day feels good,” Williams said after the loss earlier this week to Denver, when asked to compare last season’s reverse to this year’s season-ending loss.
The Suns now become yet another high-profile coaching opening, after Toronto fired Nick Nurse and Milwaukee axed Mike Budenholzer. Nurse won the 2019 NBA title with the Raptors, while Budenholzer was the coach who overcame Phoenix’s 2-0 lead in the 2021 finals.
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,” he stated. I take great pride in it, and it simply didn’t happen. I have to examine everything I do closely in light of it.”
Prior to this past Saturday, Williams had only coached his current squad for four years, making him the coach with the fifth-longest tenure. 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.
Only Kerr and Spoelstra, two of the last nine coaches to lead a club to the NBA Finals, remain with the team they led to the championship series.
The teams that they led to the finals dismissed the others, including Ime Udoka of Boston, Frank Vogel of the Los Angeles Lakers, David Blatt and Tyronn Lue of Cleveland, Budenholzer, Nurse, and now Williams.
