So much has been made about the current relationship between Phoenix Suns star Deandre Ayton and head coach Monty Williams. Ayton his did part to stoke the flame after he recently revealed that he hadn't spoken to his coach since their disastrous Game 7 loss to the Dallas Mavericks in last season's Western Conference Semifinals.
Ayton now appears to have backpedaled on his earlier comments. According to the 24-year-old center, everything's fine between himself and Williams (via the Arizona Republic [paywalled]):
“I mean, we talk, man. At the end of the day, it’s like we’re trying to contribute to a win,” Ayton said. “Everything is back to normal. Nothing has changed to be honest.”
Ayton then addressed his contentious statement from the start of camp. In his mind, this was just blown out of proportion:
“Yeah, I may have come to media day just bland, but I wasn’t trying to give nobody no damn story or nothing, but it flipped on me,” Ayton continued. “So, I can’t really say nothing. Just let everybody run away with it. All I know is we’ve been in here working. We’ve been battling each other, beating up each other in training camp. Coach has been loving it.”
It sounds like Ayton and Williams have settled their beef. In fact, Ayton seems to be implying here that there was no ill will between them in the first place. This is despite the fact that the pair reportedly had to be separated after Ayton took offense to Williams saying that the young big man “quit” on the team during their season-ending loss to the Mavs.
Either way, Ayton is still going to be a member of the Suns this coming season. Whether or not he finishes the campaign with the team, however, is an altogether different matter.
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