Monty Williams

Tavares Montgomery Williams (born October 8, 1971) is an American professional basketball coach, executive and former player who is the head coach for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Williams was born on October 8, 1971, in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

He attended Potomac High School in Oxon Hill, Maryland, where he excelled in basketball.

As a 6ft 8in small forward from the University of Notre Dame, Williams was an honorable mention All-American, averaging 22.4 points and 8.4 rebounds during his senior season.

Williams was an NBA first-round pick despite a pre-existing heart condition that kept him out for two seasons at Notre Dame.

Williams played for five NBA teams during a playing career that spanned from 1994 to 2003.

His NBA coaching career has included stints as an assistant coach, associate head coach, and head coach.

Williams was the head coach for the New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans from until.

He served as an assistant coach with the United States national team under Mike Krzyzewski, and he has worked as a vice president of basketball operations for the San Antonio Spurs.

He was selected by the New York Knicks in the first round (24th overall) of the 1994 NBA draft.

Williams played in nine NBA seasons from 1994 to 2003.

Williams played for the New York Knicks from 1994 to 1996.

Williams was traded alongside Charles Smith to the San Antonio Spurs for Brad Lohaus, J.R. Reid and a future first round pick that became John Wallace.

He played there from 1996 to 1998.

In 1999, Williams signed with the Denver Nuggets but was released within a month.

The Orlando Magic claimed Williams off waivers and he stayed with the team until 2002.

Williams joined the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency.

In 2003, Williams was re-acquired by the Orlando Magic in a trade sending a conditional pick swap to Orlando.

He was waived by the Magic three days later, effectively ending his basketball career.

In his NBA career, Williams played in 456 games, scored a total of 2,884 points and averaged 6.3 points per game.

Chronic knee problems forced him into retirement in 2003.

In spring 2005, Williams won an NBA championship as a coaching staff intern with the San Antonio Spurs.

In fall 2005, Williams was hired by new head coach Nate McMillan as an assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers.

On June 7, 2010, Williams was offered a three-year contract to be the head coach of the New Orleans Hornets.

At the date of hiring, Williams became the youngest head coach in the NBA at 38 years old.

In his first season with the Hornets, the team finished with a 46–36 record and made the playoffs.

On August 18, 2012, Williams accepted a four-year contract extension from the Hornets (later renamed as the Pelicans).

On June 9, 2013, Williams accepted an assistant coach role with the U.S. national team, along with Jim Boeheim and Tom Thibodeau, for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The New Orleans Pelicans finished the 2014–15 season with a 45–37 record before losing to the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs.

On May 12, 2015, Williams was let go after five seasons as head coach of the Pelicans, compiling a 173–221 regular season record and going 2–8 in the playoffs.

On June 29, 2015, Williams became the associate head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

On June 1, 2016, it was announced that Williams would not return with the Thunder.

On June 4, 2018, Brett Brown announced that Williams would join his staff in Philadelphia as the lead assistant coach, his first coaching job in two seasons.

In May 2019, Williams was hired as the head coach of the Phoenix Suns.

In 2021, he led the Suns to their first NBA Finals appearance since 1993 and was named the NBA Coach of the Year the following year in 2022, when the Suns finished the regular season with a franchise record of 64 wins.

After being dismissed by Phoenix in 2023, Williams agreed to a six-year, $78.5 million coaching contract with the Pistons, making him the current second highest-paid coach.

In May 2019, the Phoenix Suns announced they had signed Williams as the team's head coach on a five-year deal.

The Suns compiled a 26–39 record in his first season coaching them before the season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Suns were later invited to the 2020 NBA Bubble in order to play eight seeding games, where Williams coached the Suns to an 8–0 record, improving their overall record that season to 34–39.

Despite this, the Suns failed to qualify for the play-in tournament to enter the 2020 NBA playoffs.