Video: If Compassion Counts, Suns' New Coach Monty Williams Already a Winner

There's no doubting the man's heart and compassion.

May 3, 2019

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The Suns hired yet another coach today. This time, the head man will be Monty Williams, the team's fifth coach since 2016. Yes, that's five head coaches in just over three years.

Williams, an assistant with the Philadelphia 76ers this NBA season, was the head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans for five seasons until he was fired in 2015 after his team finished 45-37. Hell, the next coach who wins 45 games in Phoenix will probably have a statue erected outside of whatever they're calling the downtown arena these days.

We at Phoenix New Times don't have a clue if Williams will be successful here. But we did watch the eulogy he gave after his wife was killed in a car crash in 2016 when he was an assistant with the Oklahoma Thunder. If heart and compassion count, the man is clearly a winner. Click on the video and see for yourself.

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Stuart Warner was the editor of New Times from 2017 to 2019. He has been a journalist since the stoned ages of 1969, playing a major role on teams that won three Pulitzer Prizes. He is also the author of the biography JOCK: A Coach's Story.