Fluid situation : HN to start year with wearing of masks optional – Kenton Times kentontimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kentontimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Suns officially lose top assistant Willie Green to Pelicans
Share this story
Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images
Just two days after completing a Finals run, Suns head coach Monty Williams has lost his top assistant, Willie Green, to the New Orleans Pelicans as their new head coach.
Green, who is just 39 years old and only six years removed from him playing years, becomes the third-youngest coach in the NBA behind Oklahoma City’s Mark Daigneault and Memphis’ Taylor Jenkins.
Green has had an incredibly successful run as an assistant coach in the NBA.
His two teams have been to four NBA Finals in his five years in coaching, including two championships. He experienced three straight Finals from 2017-2019 with Golden State under Steve Kerr, the first two as a player development coach and the last as a full assistant coach. Then this year, he reached the Finals with the Suns as the top assistant under Monty Williams.
There are 8 total connections to the Sixers in the 2021 NBA Finals boxden.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from boxden.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Williams and Paul hugged after the game and took in the moment. Even though there were plenty of tears from Paul, there were none from Williams.
“It’s just authentic. I just felt like hugging him. I think his parents were right behind us and he was emotional,” Williams said. “I felt for him. I had my emotional time before the game.”
Before the Suns took to the Staples Center court, Williams and assistant coach Randy Ayers were in the locker room reflecting on their journey together five years in New Orleans and the last two in Phoenix.
“Today about 2:30 we were in the locker room. It was just Randy and I. I was like, ‘Man, Randy, we’re so close.’ And then Randy starts telling me what he felt about me, because he’s been with me since day one in New Orleans. And I broke down before the game,” Williams said. “So I understood the emotions that Chris was dealing with. I just ran out of tears. I used all mine up about 2:30, 3 p.m. today.
Williams, Paul emotional after Phoenix reaches NBA Finals apnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from apnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.