The deep friendship between Doc Rivers and Monty Williams has permeated for nearly three decades, in a variety of life and basketball scenarios.
“What?” Williams replied.After learning Williams’ wife Ingrid had died in a car accident from injuries, Rivers immediately boarded a private plane to fly from Los Angeles to Oklahoma City. There, they sat in Williams’ home and talked for about two hours, before Rivers turned around to travel back to his home and his Clippers team.
Now, both men are guiding two intriguing NBA teams that will meet for the second time this season Sunday night. Williams is the NBA Coach of the Year frontrunner for leading a Phoenix Suns squad that has followed last season’s Finals run by clinching the league’s best regular-season record with about two weeks still to play. Rivers, meanwhile, helms a 76ers team also with championship aspirations afterat the trade deadline to pair with MVP contender Joel Embiid.
Rivers never hesitated to be blunt with a young Williams, whom Rivers called hard-headed and stubborn back then. Rivers also used to make fun of Williams for the Virginia country roots that taught him to prefer fishing over golfing. But during those early years, Rivers regularly invited Williams over to his home to spend time with his budding family.
When the Magic did not re-sign Williams in 2002 after three seasons spanning Rivers’ stunning Coach of the Year campaign and the beginning of the Tracy McGrady era, Rivers and his family stopped by Williams’ home to say goodbye in person. While forging those initial relationships with players, Williams often thought about how Rivers always seemed to have a good feel for the locker room and how to handle various situations that would arise throughout the course of a long season. That applied when Williams coached Rivers’ son, Austin, when he played for New Orleans from 2012-15, a situation Williams said was never “daunting” even when it could have been.
“[Williams has] an ability to tell somebody the truth that they don’t want to hear,” Rivers said. “There’s a lot of coaches in this league that can tell the truth, but the delivery is awful and it doesn’t go well. Monty is very good at being straightforward and honest, but people hear what he’s saying.”
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