By River Mitchell
@rivermitchell27
Former NBA Coach and player Monty Williams has made a name for himself over the years. After spending nine years in the NBA playing for the Knicks, Spurs, Nuggets, Magic and 76ers, Williams shifted to becoming an NBA head coach. He started in 2010 with the New Orleans Hornets, and is most known for his time coaching the Phoenix Suns, leading them to a NBA Finals appearance in the 2020-2021 season.
After getting fired by the Detroit Pistons following the 2023-24 season, Williams decided to take the head coach position for TMI Episcopal High School, a small school in San Antonio, Texas., with a total enrollment hovering around 640 students. There, he gets to coach his two sons, Micah and Elijah Williams, with Elijah currently ranked as the No. 27 ranked prospect in ESPN’s top 100 recruits for the class of 2026. The team competed in the second game on day three of the Panini Hoophall Classic, falling to Blair Academy by a score of 78-52.
For Williams, coaching on a big stage like the Hoophall Classic is nothing new. The adjustment of moving into high school coaching was natural for Williams. He has six children and has missed a fair amount of life events due to the busy nature of his profession, a big reason why he’s found so much joy in coaching his kids at TMI Episcopal.
“I’ve always coached my kids,” Williams said. “I’m not coaching practice, I’m still dad. If you came to our practices, you would hear my kids say, ‘Dad, do you want us to sink on this or trap this or what play do you want us to run.’ The blessing is that I’m with them pretty much every single day and I get a chance to have more organic conversations after practice [and] before practice.”
Since coaching his two boys, he’s seen them grow not just on the court, but as people and leaders too. It’s something he was not able to see everyday while coaching in the NBA.
“I’ve seen Elijah grow in his leadership as he’s become a better player,” Williams said. “His work ethic, his character has been able to be on the forefront because when you play well, people see who you are. I think his teammates see his ability to serve and help them in practice. Especially when they don’t understand something.”
“Micah is a little bit different,” Williams continued. “He’s a freshman. I’ve just watched him go from really, really nervous to being more comfortable on the floor. That’s the kind of stuff that I would miss when I was coaching in the NBA. I’ve missed teeth falling out, recitals and games. Now, being home I get to see everything, especially their growth as players and as people.”
Williams coaching has also given him the opportunity to continue to instill their trust in God, prioritizing love, integrity and character. A lot of the teachings that Williams and his wife try to implement into their everyday roles as parents also apply to basketball.
“Those are basketball characters,” Williams said. “If you think about being here at the Hall of Fame and how this game got started, Dr. Naismith used biblical principles to change lives. We do the same thing in our family. It’s what we teach our boys, girls and we [teach] our team everyday.”