After Darvin Ham, Monty Williams joins the list of coaching departures. Last Wednesday, the Detroit Pistons officially announced that they would be parting ways with Williams. “We will chart a new course moving forward,” stated Pistons owner Tom Gores. However, parting ways with a coach who has over two decades of coaching excellence is not an easy task.

The contract for Williams stood at $78.5 million and the reason for such a high pay was because Williams was in demand after his highly successful tenure at Phoenix Suns. As per Monty Williams’ firing clause, the Pistons have to pay $65 million to their former coach. “And again, they owe Monty Williams over $65 million to go away,” said ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

For those unaware, Williams will be signing off from the Pistons’ coaching position after a year of coaching experience and an amount greater than the total WNBA salary. As per herhoopstats.com, the WNBA’s total salary is $17,024,495, which is $47,975,505 less than Williams’ firing clause money.

Per the reports, the decision to part ways with Williams came at the ownership level. “Coaching has many dynamic challenges that emerge during a season, and Monty always handled those with grace. However, after reviewing our performance carefully and assessing our current position as an organization,” Pistons owner Tom Gores added in the statement.

Gores lured Monty Williams with an illustrative contract after he was fired by the Suns. At this time, Williams was planning to take a season off as his wife was diagnosed with cancer. However, unable to say no to Detroit’s lucrative offer, Williams continued with the Pistons’ massive rebuild. But, this never happened!

What led to Williams’ unplanned departure from the Pistons?

Back in 2019, Williams was signed as the head coach for the Phoenix Suns. During his four-year tenure with the Suns, he led them to their first NBA Finals since 1993. The following year, he was named NBA Coach of the Year as the Suns finished the regular season with a franchise-record 64 wins.

However, after being dismissed by Phoenix in 2023, the Pistons immediately extended a massive offer. Unfortunately, Williams’ magic did not work for the Pistons, and they ended the season with the worst record in team history. Notably, the team endured a 28-game losing streak, finishing with a 14-68 record. All of this led to his dismissal despite being in the first year of his contract.

Now that he has been fired, he is expected to take some time to consider his next steps in the NBA. Given his experience and reputation, Williams is open to exploring other NBA teams. However, the question remains: will any NBA team enlist Monty Williams for the position of their head coach, considering he has been fired for the second consecutive time?

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.