Phoenix head coach Monty Williams handled his postgame press conference with grace and humility. Even though it was a humbling moment following the Suns' loss to the champions Milwaukee Bucks, he still showed incredible resolve as he answered questions.
Until the last one.
Williams was asked if he could already process what he learned from his first Finals appearance.
"I think it's going to take me a minute,” he said.
After a short pause, his words almost fell into a whisper, as though the gravity of the moment finally fell. The weight of the season ultimately came crashing down. There is strength in being vulnerable and the veteran mentor embodied that.
"I just don't take it for granted,” he went on. "It's hard to get here and I wanted it so bad, you know. It's hard to process right now. It's hard. That's all.”
Williams has always told his team that everything they want is on the other side of hard. Well, the Finals was hard and the loss was definitely hard.
The Suns’ fairytale run finally came to a screeching halt in Game 6. It was a gut-wrenching Finals loss especially since they were up 2-0 to start the series. In the end, Devin Booker and company couldn’t overcome the historic performance of Giannis Antetokounmpo. Veteran Chris Paul, one of the leaders of the Suns, continues his long quest for a championship.
"For me, it just means back to work. Back to work. Nothing more, nothing less,” Paul said about the experience of coming so close to the title. "Ain’t no moral victories or whatnot. We sort of saw what it takes to get there and hopefully, we see what it takes to get past that.”
As difficult it is to grapple with the pain of defeat, it often comes hand-in-hand with perspective. The Suns were back in the postseason after a 10-year hiatus. They defeated the defending champions. They swept the MVP. They withstood a gritty effort from an equally hungry franchise.
Through it all, they now have a young core that’s battle-tested. They are led by a visionary coach and a budding superstar. They captured the hearts of a city longing for success. It was a wild and thrilling run. The hard part now is to pick up the pieces after a long season.
"There's just a pain that goes with your season being over, but I've never dealt with this and so I'm grateful like I said, but I know this is going to hurt for a while,” Williams said as he tried to encapsulate the season. "But I don't want that to take away from what our guys did this year. “They battled all year long and with all the testing and playing every other day to get to this point and have a chance to play for a championship, like it's unreal, you know, that our guys did this.
"So, from that standpoint I'm grateful and I feel for them, but I also expressed to them, now we know what it takes to get here, it's going to be that much harder to get past this point and the reality is you never know if you're ever going to get back here, that's why you have to take advantage of these opportunities, and they did. We just came up short."
There are huge front office concerns for Phoenix ahead of the offseason, notably Paul and his contract. Then there are the possible extensions for Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges. It will come down to how much the front office is willing to spend and how long they are willing to invest in the long run. These are valid queries that will dictate the future of the franchise. They will have to regroup and look ahead at what needs to be done to not only get back into the Finals but to win it all.
"Championship basketball and nothing less than that,” Booker said on what kind of foundation the Suns will lean on for next year. "So, going into next season on a Tuesday night playing against Cleveland if we don't have it, we will be quickly reminded about the details and if you don't want to give it your all right now, what can happen and this feeling right now that we're feeling can happen. So, this isn't something you want to feel. I haven't felt a hurt like this in my life. So, that's what I say when I know we have a base and a foundation, just championship basketball at all times."
Until the new season, the Suns can assess what they’ve accomplished and what they need to do to eventually claim the title. For now, they can follow the lead of Williams and be grateful for this painful experience.
The coach has had a lot of teaching moments and insightful anecdotes throughout the playoffs that were caught on camera. There was the hug with Paul, telling him to savor the moment of entering the Finals. He was encouraging Ayton to dominate and play with force in Game 2 because the center set a high level for himself. After the loss in Game 4, the coach delivered a thoughtful speech of how to get back into the series as Dario Saric nodded in the background.
As the Suns’ season came to a close, Williams delivered one last teaching moment.
He admitted he was at a loss for words at the end of his postgame press conference. He said he needed a minute and that it was a hard process. But it didn’t take long for him to muster the strength to go into the Bucks’ locker room to congratulate the champions.
Monty Williams congratulates Giannis and the @Bucks after an incredible NBA Finals. #ThatsGame pic.twitter.com/Evsy5I1IsO
— NBA (@NBA) July 21, 2021
“I’m thankful for the experience. You guys made me a better coach. You made us a better team,” Williams said amidst the celebration.
It was all class. It was pure sportsmanship. It was being on the other side of hard.
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