Brooklyn Nets wing Mikal Bridges now calls Brooklyn his home, but it doesn’t mean that he leaves his relationships from his Phoenix Suns days on the back-burner. After the Suns lost Game 6 of their second-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets in embarrassing fashion, an ending that occurred for the second consecutive season, Williams was let go at the direction of new owner Mat Ishbia.
Williams coached in Phoenix for four seasons and as a result, coached Bridges for 3.5 seasons before the Suns traded Bridges and others for Kevin Durant. Williams admitted sometime after the trade that Bridges being traded made him emotional which shows the connection that exists between Williams and Bridges.
In addition, Bridges blossomed as a player under Williams as the former Villanova Wildcat went from being just a 3-and-D type of player to being a guy who could be a vital part of a team’s offense as well as defense. Bridges recently made an appearance on “The Pivot” podcast and he discussed Williams being fired and gave his thoughts on Williams and the situation:
“I feel like Monty (Williams) is one of them guys just like, I know he’ll be okay. Obviously, it’s gonna hurt, like I’m not no damn robot, like obviously, that (expletive) hurts. But, like, I’ll be okay and I think Monty is the same way. A lot of adversity, a lot of things he’s been through like this is another part of it and he’s just gonna get through it and he knows he’s a hell of a coach.”
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