National Basketball Association

Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams taking his team and career to new heights

Updated Jul. 1, 2021 12:39 a.m. ET

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By Melissa Rohlin
FOX Sports NBA Writer

Editor's note: This story was originally published June 21. We're bringing it back around in honor of the Suns' first trip to the NBA Finals since 1993.

It was the third quarter in Game 3 of the Phoenix Suns' second-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets, and Cameron Payne had just committed a carrying violation.

Waves of self-doubt pulsed through him, a phenomenon that coach Monty Williams immediately recognized. Williams called a timeout and then pulled the 26-year-old guard aside.

"He was like, 'I need you to be poised, be solid, but be you,'" Payne told FOX Sports.

Moments later, those words rang through Payne's head when Cameron Johnson passed him the ball as he cut toward the 3-point line. Payne turned around, saw some space, took two dribbles toward Nikola Jokic and then fired a step-back, 25-foot shot from beyond the arc that swished through the net. 

"That's confidence coming from him," Payne said of Williams. 

Williams has had a magic touch with his players this season, inspiring incredible play out of a Suns team that wasn't expected to make a deep run in the playoffs but blasted past the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers in the first round and then swept the Nuggets in the second round. Now they're up 1-0 on the LA Clippers in the Western Conference finals.

It has been an improbable and stunning run, a Cinderella story in which the hero is a 49-year-old man whose warmth and resilience have made everyone around him, including a 36-year-old, "washed-up" superstar named Chris Paul and a talented young core without postseason experience, deeply buy in. 

For Williams, it has been a whirlwind. 

Under the leadership of Williams, who was hired before the 2019-20 season, the Suns have transformed from a team that had one of the worst records in the league in 2018-19 (19-63) into a championship contender this season (51-21). After advancing to the conference finals, Williams was overcome with gratitude. 

"It's one of those moments for me that, quite frankly, I never thought I'd have a chance to experience," he said.

Just five years ago, his life was in shambles.

Williams' wife, Ingrid, died in a head-on collision in February 2016, leaving him and their five children (ages 5 to 17 at the time) reeling from heartbreak. Williams met his wife of 20 years in college and deeply loved her. Without her, he felt lost. 

Yet he's the type of man who encouraged everyone at Ingrid's funeral to pray for the woman who killed his wife and also died in the crash, Susannah Donaldson. Donaldson had drugs in her system and was speeding when she lost control of her SUV and crossed the center line. "That family didn't wake up wanting to hurt my wife," Williams said at the time.

Williams took an indefinite leave of absence from being an associate head coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder. A month later, he decided he wouldn't be returning. 

He was devastated. His world was shattered. He has since remarried, but to this day, it's something he regularly talks about with his players.

"He always brings it up because it's a part of his life," Payne said. "He says it's always good to talk about it instead of just holding it in and not letting anyone near you."

Williams eventually picked up the pieces enough to rejoin the NBA coaching ranks in 2018 as an assistant for the Philadelphia 76ers. On May 3, 2019, he took the head job in Phoenix.

The Suns players immediately noticed that there was something different about Williams. 

He didn't take anything for granted. He made people feel special. He wanted to get to know his players. He'd FaceTime them just to say hi. 

"Man, that guy, coach, he doesn't approach you as an NBA coach," Deandre Ayton said. "Coach is more like a friend. Some say father figure. He teaches you so many things away from basketball, and he creates this bond and chemistry where you catch yourself coming to him for advice about anything. That type of stuff builds on the court, and now you want to play as hard as you can for this dude and this organization."

There's a genuineness about Williams. He isn't above laughing at himself. He loves it when his players make fun of him for being bald or sprouting gray hair. "When they're picking on me, that's a cool sign that we have a pretty cool team," he said. 

Williams also never lets his ego get in the way. Throughout the season, if he wanted to run a play but his players felt there was a better approach, he'd trust them. He'd defer.

In a league filled with machismo and bravado, his humility and openness disarm everyone around him. 

"Since Day 1, you feel the realness in everything he says," All-Star Devin Booker said. "The eye contact, the demeanor of it, just a bunch of little things that make you a made man. I feel all that from him."

In Williams' first season with the Suns, they had a shaky 26-39 start, but things changed for them in the NBA bubble. They won all eight of their games, just narrowly missing the playoffs. Their chemistry deepened. They started really believing in themselves. 

Then the Suns acquired Paul in November, reuniting the 11-time All-Star with Williams. Paul played under Williams in New Orleans in 2010-11, Williams' first season as a head coach.

There was a deep trust between Williams and Paul. They could communicate with just a look. They often knew what each other was thinking. 

Williams said Paul, who is famous for being a student of the game, has influenced his coaching style just as much as his mentors, including Gregg Popovich, Nate McMillan and Michael Malone. 

"He's a guy that challenges me to be a better coach because I know how sharp he is," Williams said of Paul. "We go back and forth with information. It forces me to try to be at my highest level because I want to do everything I can to help him and our team be successful."

Williams has more than gained Paul's respect. 

Over the Suns' postseason run, Paul has repeatedly credited the coaching staff after wins, unprompted. "We [are] so prepared, man, going into every game," Paul said after Game 3 against the Nuggets. 

The Suns want to win for Williams. He has been through so much. He gives them so much. He has taken the franchise to the playoffs for the first time in 11 years. 

When Williams finished second for the NBA's Coach of the Year award, behind New York's Tom Thibodeau, his players were deeply disappointed. The news was announced before Game 1 against the Nuggets. The Suns responded with a dominant 122-105 win. 

After that game, Booker said the voters missed the boat. 

"Monty came in here and shifted the culture tremendously," Booker said. "I've seen the bottom. And once he got here, that energy changed, the gym changed, the personnel changed. He developed a culture that we all bought in to and love. I always say it: Every day, the culture is something that makes coming to work every day fun. And that started with coach Monty. He's definitely deserving of it."

Payne couldn't agree more. Over the past two seasons, he went from fearing for his job to becoming a pivotal player for the Suns. He credits Williams. 

Back in the bubble, Payne struggled mentally. His contract wasn't guaranteed, and he'd obsess over each mistake he made, fearing it could destroy his career. Williams helped take the pressure off of him.

"He kind of calmed me down a lot, made me realize everything is OK, everybody makes mistakes, it's all right," Payne said. "I didn't really get that from a lot of other coaches I played for."

Payne has since matured into a key player for the Suns. He had a four-game stretch in the first round in which he averaged 15.7 points on 49.9% shooting. With Paul sidelined Sunday for Game 1 against the Clippers because of health and safety protocols, Payne started in his place at point guard, helping lead the Suns to a 120-114 win.

It has all come together beautifully for the Suns. 

They share the ball unselfishly. Paul is playing as though he were a decade younger. Ayton has quieted anyone who mocked the Suns for drafting him ahead of Luka Dončić. Booker is proving that he's unequivocally a superstar. And Mikal Bridges and Payne have been playing some of the best basketball of their lives.

For Williams, it's incredible to witness. 

After the Suns swept the Nuggets, he and Paul exchanged a lengthy hug on the court.

In that moment, Williams couldn't help but think about everything he has been through over the span of their 10-year friendship, including how Paul supported him when Ingrid died. 

"At the darkest moment of my life, Chris was right there," Williams said. "And in one of the highlights of my career, he's right there."

As for Paul, he summed up the emotions of the entire team.

For the Suns, Williams is so much more than a man who draws X's and O's on a board. 

"Sometimes you have coaches that are just coaches," Paul said. "And sometimes you have relationships that last a lifetime."

Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. She has previously covered the league for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, the Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @melissarohlin.

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Phoenix Suns

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Melissa Rohlin