Success in the recent past seems to matter less and less in the NBA. For at least some teams, it doesn’t matter what you did a few years ago if you’re not getting the job done now. The Phoenix Suns showed they subscribe to that philosophy when The Athletic reported that they have fired former Notre Dame player Monty Williams as coach. Williams was the 2022 Coach of the Year, and he took the Suns to the 2021 NBA Finals.
Williams joins the ranks of NBA coaches who have lost their jobs recently despite doing great things not long ago. The Toronto Raptors ousted Nick Nurse even though he led them to the 2019 championship. Mike Budenholzer, who coached Pat Connaughton and the Milwaukee Bucks to the 2021 title, also was handed his walking papers. These moves should put almost every coach in the league on notice about what can happen if their team underachieves.
Hopefully, Williams isn’t out of the NBA for long. He has too good of a resume for teams with coaching vacancies not to at least look at him. He’s a good guy, too. Who wouldn’t want that on their bench?
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Story originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire