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PHOENIX - Just days after they were eliminated from the playoffs, the Phoenix Suns have parted ways with their coach.
The Suns fired Monty Williams on Saturday, two years after reaching the NBA Finals and a year after he was the overwhelming choice as the coach of the year, the team confirmed.
"Monty has been foundational to our success over the past four seasons," said President of Basketball Operations and General Manager James Jones. "We are filled with gratitude for everything Monty has contributed to the Suns and to the Valley community. While it was difficult for me to make this decision, I look forward to continuing the work to build a championship team."
Williams had great success in his four regular seasons in Phoenix, winning 63% of his games. But three consecutive years of playoff frustration was likely too much for the Suns to overlook — especially after two straight years of Phoenix trailing by 30 points at halftime of elimination games at home.
ESPN and The Athletic first reported the decision.
"New owner Mat Ishbia made decision to fire Williams, who has been the winningest coach in NBA since 2021," ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted on May 13. "Suns have a starry but top-heavy roster with little cap flexibility this summer. The Suns will compete in coaching marketplace with Milwaukee and Toronto now."
"Mat Ishbia and James Jones begin an aggressive offseason solely focused on a championship," the Athletic's Shams Charania tweeted. "And with two top-10 players in Kevin Durant and Devin Booker under contract long-term, an attractive market and driven, dynamic ownership, Suns become the destination coaching job opening."
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 finale — last year to Dallas, this year to Denver.
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Phoenix is headed to the offseason after losing to the Denver Nuggets 125-100 in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals.
"Neither day feels good," Williams said after the loss earlier this week to Denver, when asked to compare last season’s debacle to this year’s season-ending loss.
Saturday likely didn’t feel good either.
The Suns now become yet another high-profile coaching opening, after Toronto fired Nick Nurse and Milwaukee fired 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.
It’s the second major decision made by new Suns owner Mat Ishbia in about three months since the closing of the sale that gave him control of the club. In February, Ishbia green-lighted a blockbuster trade that brought Kevin Durant to Phoenix and gave the Suns a core — him, Devin Booker, former No. 1 pick Deandre Ayton and Chris Paul — that the team hoped would be enough to deliver a title.
It just didn’t work, at least, not this year. Paul got hurt in the playoffs to continue his run of bad luck on the health front in the postseason, Ayton sat out the finale and Booker and Durant simply looked gassed by the time it was over.
Williams, after the season ended, blamed himself.
"I take that personally, not having our team ready to play in the biggest game of the year," Williams said. "That’s something that I pride myself on and it just didn’t happen. ... That’s something I have to take a deep look at, everything I’m doing."
DENVER, COLORADO - MAY 01: Head coach Monty Williams of the Phoenix Suns watches as his team plays the Denver Nuggets in the first quarter during Game Two of the NBA Western Conference Semifinals at Ball Arena on May 01, 2023 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
Ishbia clearly took a deep look as well, and decided to make the change.
It’s anyone’s guess what other changes are coming. The roster surely will change, and so will the system with a new coach in place.
The Associated Press (AP) contributed to this report.