DETROIT — Monty Williams’ honesty was both surprising and refreshing. When the elephant in the room is $100 million, for a coach, it would be disingenuous not to address it.
The 51-year-old head coach who was recently fired by the Phoenix Suns, still had millions coming his way and learned that his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, had little incentive to return to the sideline next year. That was until Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores offered to make Williams the highest-paid coach in NBA history and provide benefits — access to a health and welfare fund, as well as access to a private plane — that would help his wife and family be in the best position to handle any potential complications that could come with her diagnosis.
Gores’ pulled out all the stops to get the man he and others in Detroit’s organization felt was the right choice to get the Pistons back toward relevancy.
“The quick answer is, obviously, Troy, the players and the money,” Williams said when asked why he took the Pistons job on Tuesday during his introductory press conference. “That’s something people don’t talk about. I always laugh at that and think it’s disrespectful. When someone is that generous to pay me that kind of money, number one, that should be applauded and, number…
