Following the defeat to the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Finals, Phoenix Suns head coach Monty Williams did something unprecedented that is rarely seen. Williams walked into the Milwaukee locker room after the Game 6 and series loss and congratulated Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks.
Williams was put under the microscope for the move as many thought he scripted it and did it for the optics of how it would look for him and the Suns. That's not the guy Monty Williams is though.
Via Sam Amick of The Athletic, Williams explained the situation and what happened that caused the ordeal to unravel the way that it did.
“All I wanted to do was congratulate Giannis, because I came right out of a press conference and I shut the door and I went right into him. And he was sitting there with a cigar in his hands, soaking wet from — I guess — the champagne, and he had a bottle in his hand (laughs). So I’m thinking to myself, ‘How cool is this, man?’ (laughs). I come right out of my press conference, I’m emotional, and then I run right into him and I just wanted to be gracious and say ‘Congrats. You deserved it. You beat us.’”
The Suns led the series against the Bucks 2-0 before losing 4 straight to Antetokounmpo and Milwaukee. The series itself was wildly entertaining and had plenty of unpredictable twists and turns throughout it.
Williams also noted that the Bucks superstar led the Suns coach into the locker room which kickstarted the scene.
“Yeah, he was like ‘Come on, Coach,’ and I was like, ‘OK.’ I didn’t know their locker room, and it was all done authentically. I wasn’t trying to be a great sportsman. I wasn’t trying to be classy, any of that. I was just doing what I was taught, you know?”
Perhaps the Suns and Bucks will meet up again next year.
Follow Us
Subscribe