Monty Williams
It's a skill to navigate uncertainty.
I learned a long time ago that you can't skip steps.
I am overjoyed to receive the Michael H. Goldberg Coach of the Year Award from the National Basketball Coaches Association.
I don't have any bitterness in my heart, man.
I know what it's like to have a No. 1 pick and having everybody picking at him all of the time.
I get how you have to marinate your bigs. They take longer.
Everybody's not 7-1, 335 and can dance.
You can't play like that in any conference, where bigs just continually get offensive rebounds and get fouled and get to the free throw line.
A lot of guys talk like they want to do it, and they think it would be cool to be in a nice suit on the sidelines, but I'm not afraid in dealing with the success and failures that goes with being a head coach.
In life, and in basketball, if you lay the truth out there, people don't have to guess.
In this league, the truth helps guys out.
The essence of my coaching is to serve.
I think when people say stuff about you, you want to prove them wrong.
The reality is we live in a world that's filled with stuff, but quitting is not an option.
Just, sometimes your faith and your feelings don't line up.
Your natural tendency, human nature, is to always look and see if there's an opportunity. But that's something that I don't spend a ton of time doing because I'm pretty meat and potatoes when it comes to approaching the day.
Every team goes through segments of the season where things get a bit loose, from time to time.
You can either be a quitter, a camper or a climber. I don't want to quit, and I certainly don't want to camp.
I want to continue to climb up the mountain of life and try to get everything that God has for me.
I'm a man who has failed in many areas, but the one thing I don't want to do is quit.
When I came into the NBA, to be around Patrick Ewing and Derek Harper and Doc Rivers and Charles Oakley and Pat Riley and Jeff Van Gundy every day had a huge effect on me.
Herb Williams was a guy that took me in and taught me how to eat, taught me how to take care of my body.
When you win a championship, you realize it takes a level of stamina that most people don't have.
To be able to win on a Game 7 in The Finals, was a huge experience for me.
I've been blessed to coach alongside and play for some of the best coaches in the NBA, and consider it a privilege to once again be a head coach with an excellent organization like the Suns.
I was just trying to coach and that was the only thing I knew. Coach the team. I think for me, ten years later and a lot of life experiences later, I'm more aware of the partnership that has to take place.
I just try to be authentic and speak from the heart. Sometimes it requires me to shut up and not say anything.
Sometimes in a huddle I don't say anything, the guys will run the huddle. But I try to be an encourager in huddles, especially when I see a guy down or the team is not at the level where they should be mentally.
I pray for those we have lost but more personally for those who have lost - the families of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and so many before you. I know how it feels to get that call that someone you love isn't coming home.
We have an institutional problem with pervasive racism.
It is time to raze the institutional foundations of racism and segregation within politics, law enforcement and society at large.
I'm distraught as I look at my boys - two are African American and one is Caucasian - because too many people see them differently. None of them should have to think about how law enforcement will treat them if pulled over for rolling through a stop sign.
We're not going to ride on Space Mountain and do the Disney thing. Forget Mickey. This is freaking 'Braveheart' and 'Gladiator' stuff that we are trying to will onto other teams.
The way I've always approached every situation is to not get too far ahead of myself.
When you've been quarantined so long and being in somewhat of a limited routine, it's good to have the gym to get back with your guys.
We have to approach every game with a level of desperation and we can't look at the series numbers.
It doesn't have to be stats all the time. Go dominate the game with force.
The music before the game, they're playing old-school music and it's right above your locker room and you're like, 'These people are crazy, man. This is pretty cool.' I'm sure it has an effect, but after a few minutes, it's just basketball.
Everybody is beatable.
Just because you have a lead in the series doesn't mean you can show up and they're going to give it to you.
Having already been a head coach and having been fired, you never want to be in a situation where you're not prepared.
Unfortunately, everything we do, somebody is going to have a cell phone. And you've got to be careful.
I want to help guys get better. I want to help them get paid. I want to help them win games, but I want to do it in a way that allows for them to think, 'That guy cares about me. He cares about my family. He cares about me as a person.'
Just for me, my leadership revolves around serving people. It's the way I thought would be effective for my personality.
Well, head space, mental stamina, all that stuff, like it boils down to getting it done.
I have to be real with my kids. Life is precious. They know that. Yet, I have to remind them that they're blessed beyond what most people on the face of the Earth could imagine.
We talk about touching our guys in a personal way, knowing that we all want to play basketball and coach basketball, but our guys are dealing with stuff and we want to make sure we are sensitive to that.
I was so focused on winning and coaching; there were times players felt like I was really tough on them and hard on them. Now, I try to be more considerate with how I get my message across.