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Assistant Coach Monty Williams and Head Coach Brett Brown of the Philadelphia 76ers face the Brooklyn Nets in the fifth game of the first round of the 2019 NBR Series at the Wells Fargo Center on April 23, 2019 in Philadelphia. , Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)
The Phoenix Suns on Friday hired Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach Monty Williams as the new head coach to replace Igor Kokoskov, who was sacked.
The agreement is for five years, confirmed 98.7 FM Sports Station Arizona John Gambadoro. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN added that Williams will stay with the Sixers until the end of the playoffs.
"I am delighted to welcome Monty Williams into the Suns family as the next head coach," Suns general manager James Jones said in a statement. "Monty brings great NBA experience, both as a coach and a former player, and is a leading character who will bring the wisdom of basketball and life lessons to our locker room. Monty is highly respected for his training pedigree, leadership and commitment to the community, making him the ideal person to lead our team into the future. "
The Los Angeles Lakers had also expressed interest in Williams, after interviewing him with former Cleveland Cavaliers coach Ty Lue for the opener that remained after Luke Walton's shot.
Williams has five years of experience as a head coach in New Orleans. He went 173-221 (.439) from 2010-15, making the playoffs twice and losing in the first round both times.
While there, Williams worked under the new Suns Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations, Jeff Bower, and was hired to replace Bower, who was named head coach in 2009-10.
Williams left his coaching position after the 2015-16 season when he was the deputy head coach of the Thunder Oklahoma City. He returned this season as the assistant head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers.
Before that, Williams worked with the Blazers from 2005 to 2010 as an assistant. In 2007-08, he led Suns General Manager James Jones.
Williams becomes the 20th head coach of the Suns in franchise history and the fifth in seven seasons.
Jeff Hornacek began the era of former GM Ryan McDonough in the 2013-14 season when the Suns won 48 games. Hornacek then spent a season and a half until his dismissal after a 14-35 start in 2015.
Earl Watson took over the team in an acting role (9-24) and returned to a permanent role for the 2016-17 season although the Suns did not interview any other candidate.
The Suns played 24-58 and after Phoenix lost their first three games of the following season, Watson was sacked and replaced by Jay Triano on an interim basis.
Triano has maintained with several other people in 2018 before the Suns hire Kokoskov. McDonough was fired nine days before the start of the Suns season, with half of his staff, and the Suns replaced these positions internally with temporary tags for the rest of the season.
Jones was promoted to General Manager and Bower was named. Twelve days later, Jones dismissed Kokoskov.
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