Suns HC Monty Williams clears protocols, will return Tuesday

Phoenix Suns head coach Monty Williams Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Report: Suns HC Monty Williams clears health and safety protocols, will return Tuesday vs. Pelicans

By Victor Barbosa | Last updated 1/4/22

The team with the second-best record in the NBA will reportedly get their head coach back on the bench Tuesday night.

After missing four games in the league’s Covid protocols, Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams has cleared and will join the team vs. New Orleans tonight, sources tell ESPN. Suns are 28-8, the second-best record in the NBA.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 4, 2022

Following a nine-year playing career, Williams landed his first NBA coaching job as an assistant with the Portland Trail Blazers prior to the 2005-2006 season. The 50-year-old held the gig for five years before taking his first head-coaching job with the then-New Orleans Hornets for the 2010-2011 campaign.

In five seasons at the helm in New Orleans, Williams compiled a 173-221 regular-season record and a 2-8 mark in the playoffs. Williams was fired from the job in May 2015, before serving as the Oklahoma City Thunder's associate head coach during the 2015-2016 season.

Williams was hired as the Suns head coach in May 2019 and has earned a 113-68 record in his two-plus seasons at the helm. The team went 34-39 in the 2019-2020 season, but behind Chris Paul, Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton, finished 51-21 last season and advanced to the NBA Finals before losing to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Williams is 286-289 during the regular season as a head coach and 16-16 in the postseason.

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