Monty Williams

Montgomery Eli "Monty" Williams (born October 8, 1971) is an American professional basketball coach and a former player and executive who is the head coach for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Williams played for five NBA teams during a playing career that spanned from 1994 to 2003. His NBA coaching career has included stints as an assistant coach, as an associate head coach, and as a head coach. Williams was the head coach for the New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans from 2010 until 2015. He served as an assistant coach with the United States national team under Mike Krzyzewski, and he has worked as a vice president of basketball operations for the San Antonio Spurs. In May 2019, Williams was hired as the head coach of the Phoenix Suns.

Monty Williams
Williams as Pelicans' head coach in 2014
Phoenix Suns
PositionHead coach
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1971-10-08) October 8, 1971
Fredericksburg, Virginia
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight225 lb (102 kg)
Career information
High schoolPotomac (Oxon Hill, Maryland)
CollegeNotre Dame (1989–1994)
NBA draft1994 / Round: 1 / Pick: 24th overall
Selected by the New York Knicks
Playing career1994–2003
PositionSmall forward
Number2, 41, 3, 5
Coaching career2005–present
Career history
As player:
19941996New York Knicks
19961998San Antonio Spurs
1999Denver Nuggets
19992002Orlando Magic
2002–2003Philadelphia 76ers
As coach:
20052010Portland Trail Blazers (assistant)
20102015New Orleans Hornets / Pelicans
2015–2016Oklahoma City Thunder (associate HC)
2018–2019Philadelphia 76ers (assistant)
2019–presentPhoenix Suns
Career NBA statistics
Points2,884 (6.3 ppg)
Rebounds1,296 (2.8 rpg)
Assists544 (1.2 apg)
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Playing career

As a 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) small forward from the University of Notre Dame, Williams was an honorable mention All-American, averaging 22.4 points and 8.4 rebounds during his senior season.[1] Williams was an NBA first-round pick despite a pre-existing heart condition.[2] He was selected by the New York Knicks in the first round (24th overall) of the 1994 NBA draft.[3][4]

Williams played in nine NBA seasons from 1994 to 2003.[5] He played for the Knicks, San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, Orlando Magic and Philadelphia 76ers.[6] In his NBA career, Williams played in 456 games, scored a total of 2,884 points and averaged 6.3 points per game.[1] Chronic knee problems forced him into retirement in 2003.[7][8]

Coaching career

In 2005, Williams won an NBA championship as a coaching staff intern with the San Antonio Spurs. In 2005, Williams was hired by new head coach Nate McMillan as an assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers.[9]

On June 7, 2010, Williams was offered a three-year contract to be the head coach of the New Orleans Hornets.[10] At the date of his hiring, Williams became the youngest head coach in the NBA at 38 years old.[1] In his first season with the Hornets, the team finished with a 46–36 record and made the playoffs.[11] On August 18, 2012, Williams accepted a four-year contract extension from the Hornets (later renamed as the Pelicans).[12] On June 9, 2013, Williams accepted an assistant coach role with the U.S. national team, along with Jim Boeheim and Tom Thibodeau, for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The New Orleans Pelicans finished the 2014–15 season with a 45–37 record before losing to the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs. On May 12, 2015, Williams was let go after five seasons as head coach of the Pelicans, compiling a 173–221 regular season record and going 2–8 in the playoffs.[13]

On June 29, 2015, Williams became the associate head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder.[14] On June 1, 2016, it was announced that Williams would not return with the Thunder.[15]

On June 4, 2018, Brett Brown announced that Williams would join his staff in Philadelphia as the lead assistant coach, his first coaching job in two seasons.[16]

In May 2019, the Phoenix Suns announced they had signed Williams as the team's head coach on a five-year deal.[17][18][19] The Suns compiled a 26–39 record in his first season coaching them before the season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Suns were later invited to the 2020 NBA Bubble in order to play eight seeding games, where Williams coached the Suns to an 8–0 record, improving their overall record that season to 34–39. Despite this, the Suns failed to qualify for the play-in tournament to enter the 2020 NBA playoffs.

On November 16, 2020, Williams reunited with star point guard Chris Paul after last coaching him back in 2011 when they were with the New Orleans Hornets.[20]

Executive career

In 2016, Williams became the vice president of basketball operations for the San Antonio Spurs.[21] On June 26, 2017, while being vice president for the Spurs, Williams was selected as the winner of the Sager Strong Award during the first NBA Awards Show.[22][23]

Personal life

On February 10, 2016, Williams' wife, Ingrid, died from injuries sustained from a car crash in Oklahoma City after her car was struck head-on by a vehicle that crossed lanes after losing control. The couple had five children together.[24]

Williams is a Christian.[25][26]

Head coaching record

Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
New Orleans 2010–11 824636.5613rd in Southwest624.333Lost in First Round
New Orleans 2011–12 662145.3185th in SouthwestMissed playoffs
New Orleans 2012–13 822755.3295th in SouthwestMissed playoffs
New Orleans 2013–14 823448.4155th in SouthwestMissed playoffs
New Orleans 2014–15 824537.5495th in Southwest404.000Lost in First Round
Phoenix 2019–20 733439.4663rd in PacificMissed playoffs
Career 467207260.443 1028.200 

References

  1. "NBA.com Monty Williams". www.NBA.com. Archived from the original on December 11, 2011. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
  2. Smith, Cort (May 3, 2019). "Monty Williams, Suns' New Coach: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know".
  3. "Suns Agree to Terms with Monty Williams to Become New Head Coach". Phoenix Suns.
  4. "New York Knicks NBA Draft History: 1994". May 16, 2019.
  5. "Thunder assistant Monty Williams' wife killed in car wreck". USA TODAY.
  6. "Report: Monty Williams in talks to become Sixers' top assistant". RSN.
  7. "MONTY WILLIAMS". November 1, 2010.
  8. Jan 8, FOX Sports North; ET, 2019 at 12:25p. "Potential candidates to be next Timberwolves head coach". FOX Sports.
  9. "Portland Trail Blazers News Headlines". Portland Trail Blazers. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
  10. "Blazers assistant Monty Williams is offered head coaching position by New Orleans". The Oregonian. June 4, 2010. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  11. "2010-11 New Orleans Hornets Schedule and Results". Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  12. "New Orleans Hornets Coach Monty Williams gets four-year contract extension". nola.com. August 18, 2012. Retrieved August 18, 2012.
  13. "Pelicans fire coach Williams after 5 seasons". Retrieved May 31, 2018.
  14. "Thunder Announces Coaching Staff". NBA.com. June 29, 2015. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  15. Reid, John (June 1, 2016). "Monty Williams not returning to Thunder as assistant coach". NOLA.com. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  16. Wojnarowski, Adrian (June 4, 2018). "Monty Williams to return to coaching, become 76ers lead assistant". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
  17. "Suns hire 76ers assistant Williams as coach". ESPN. May 3, 2019.
  18. "Suns agree to terms with Monty Williams to become new head coach". Phoenix Suns. May 3, 2019. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  19. Marshall, John (May 4, 2019). "Williams agrees to deal to become Suns coach". NBA.com. The Associated Press. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
  20. "Phoenix Suns complete trade to acquire Chris Paul from Oklahoma City Thunder". ESPN. November 16, 2020.
  21. "Spurs hire ex-OKC assistant Williams as VP". ESPN.com. September 16, 2016.
  22. "Monty Williams receives inaugural Craig Sager Strong Award | NBA.com". www.nba.com.
  23. Diaz, Hector (June 26, 2017). "An emotional Monty Williams accepts the 1st-ever Sager Strong Award". SBNation.com.
  24. "Ex-Pelicans coach Monty Williams' wife dies in automobile accident". February 2016.
  25. Rankin, Duane. "Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams delivers medicines, warmth to Paul Westphal's family". The Arizona Republic.
  26. Evans, Kelley D. (December 9, 2018). "Sixers assistant coach Monty Williams: 'God makes me look much better than I deserve'".
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