Monty Williams helped lift the Phoenix Suns from being a bottom-feeder to a title contender, but back-to-back humiliating postseason exits sealed his fate.
Williams was fired by the Suns last week, and that decision has enraged Stephen Jackson, who believes there is a racial element in play here.
“I didn’t think they were gonna get rid of the coach,” Jackson said. “I think he was the right coach for the job, but you know how they do. When teams come together like this, they quick to go and find a white coach somewhere around, just throw him in that position so he can get all the credit. I don’t care, yeah, I said it. They do it too much. Every time a Black coach comes into the league, he gets the worst team in the league to start his career off. Under .500, you’ve got a sorry team and his team won’t win, so he’s six years in coaching when he finally gets a star. In a situation like this, they’re always find a white coach somewhere around just like they did Steve Nash in Brooklyn, gonna throw him in the spot where the team is already together. I think Monty Williams is a great coach and that’s why in the next day or two you’re gonna see him coaching somewhere else. He should have been having that job. They did Monty wrong.”
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That is a bold claim to make, but racism didn’t really have a role in Williams being fired. There are a few reasons, with the first being the way the Suns have been knocked out of the playoffs the last two times. Getting blown out in back-to-back years in elimination games at home, first to Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks and then to Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, is a terrible look. If the Suns had kept it competitive against the Nuggets in Game 6, he might still have this job.
The other reason is the new owner in Mat Ishbia, who would want his own coach after how the season ended. Ishbia wasn’t the one who hired Williams and he’d want his own handpicked candidate to coach the team. It is unfortunate, but we see things of this nature happen quite often.
Isiah Thomas Has Been Linked With The Suns As A Potential Head Coaching Candidate
One way that Jackson’s complaints would be dismissed is if the next hire is a Black man and Hall-of-Famer Isiah Thomas has been linked with the job. Thomas and Ishbia are close friends, with the former also being on the board of the latter’s mortgage company, United Wholesale Mortgage.
While having Thomas onboard might appease Jackson, it certainly won’t be a popular move within the Suns’ fanbase. Isiah hasn’t coached in over a decade and in his five seasons as a head coach, he never got out of the first round and missed the playoffs twice. They would much rather prefer the likes of Mike Budenholzer and Nick Nurse, who are reportedly among the candidates.
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