Suns Fire HC Monty Williams; Did Mavs’ Jason Kidd Predict This?
DALLAS — The Phoenix Suns made headlines on Saturday after a report surfaced about their decision to fire coach Monty Williams. After acquiring Kevin Durant in a blockbuster midseason trade, the team failed to reach the Western Conference Finals after being eliminated by Nikola Jokic's Denver Nuggets on Thursday.
ESPN was the first to report Williams' firing. He becomes the latest coach to be fired soon after being named the NBA's Coach of the Year. He received the honor after being at the front of the bench while the Suns achieved a 64-18 record last season.
During Williams' stint as the Suns' coach, the team managed to reach the NBA Finals in 2021 but lost to Giannis Antetokounmpo's Milwaukee Bucks. Phoenix has since been eliminated in the Western Conference semifinals in consecutive seasons, with the Dallas Mavericks being responsible for the first of those two early exits.
When discussing potential candidates to win last year's Coach of the Year honor, Kidd joked about not being a fan of receiving the honor. He described it as being "dangerous" considering how often the coaches that have received the honor tend to get fired afterward.
“That award is dangerous, because that award leads to getting fired the next year,” Kidd said last year. “I’ll pass on that.”
Williams was among the two candidates Kidd was asked about last March. As Kidd mentioned at the time, the level of pressure raises for the recipient of the award the following season — likely resulting in an unfavorable outcome.
“Those are two great candidates, and there’s probably another handful of candidates that should be mentioned,” he said. “There’s a lot of great coaches in this league, so we’ll see who gets it.
“(Winning the award) puts a lot of pressure on you the following year and it tends to not go well.”
Since the 2017-18 season, four of the recent Coach of the Year recipients have since been fired. Williams joins Mike Budenholzer and Nick Nurse as being among those coaches to be dismissed this offseason alone.
Kidd will need to elevate his performance next season to avoid having to find a new opportunity. After coaching the Mavs to a Western Conference Finals appearance, the team failed to even qualify for the play-in tournament with a 38-44 record.
Grant Afseth is a Dallas Mavericks reporter for DallasBasketball.com and an NBA reporter for NBA Analysis Network. He previously covered the Indiana Pacers and NBA for CNHI's Kokomo Tribune and various NBA teams for USA TODAY Sports Media Group. Follow him on Twitter (@grantafseth), Facebook (@grantgafseth), and YouTube (@grantafseth).
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