Deandre Ayton formed a lot of whispers this Tuesday after he revealed that he hasn’t talked yet with coach Monty Williams following the Phoenix Suns’ crushing Game 7 defeat against the Dallas Mavericks last postseason.
And when Williams had his opportunity to address this topic, it appears that he only wants space from his players right after the grinding defeat.
“I haven’t talked to a lot of guys. Like I said earlier in the summer, they needed a break,” Monty said to the press on Tuesday. “From me, the gym. Unless you were in the gym like every day… I’ve had interactions with everybody, talking to guys about deep stuff. I think when you’ve been around a group as much as we have the last three years — first year the bubble, and then condensed seasons — I felt like guys needed a break.
“Even when guys are in the gym, I wouldn’t come downstairs just cause I wanted them to get a break from me. I think so much has been made of Game 7,” Williams added. “We put it to bed last night as a team. You can ask everybody in the gym, I put it to bed last night.
“I think if you ask a bunch of our guys they’d be like ‘yeah coach has been quiet this summer.’ I just wanted to get everybody a break. Your voice can become too much and I just didn’t want that to happen.”
Both Ayton and Williams endured a reported turmoil during the Suns’ second-round clash against the Mavs. Williams was frequently cold in citing the issue he has with the big man, but playing time on the crushing loss was particularly being pointed at as the focal cause.
It’s been over four months, and the drama between both sides is still alive. No one knows what Williams would like to literally portray in his recent statement, but they have to patch things up to be able to be back focused in contending again.
