PHOENIX — These days, it’s hard to know what comments will get a coach fined for tampering. So Monty Williams tried to be cautious as he considered a question about Anthony Davis.
“All I’ll say about Anthony is I really care about him,” Williams said. “That’s all I’ll say. If I get fined for that, too freaking bad.”
The Phoenix Suns coach has a history with Davis, who he coached for three years in New Orleans. A lot has changed since 2015, when Williams was dismissed after a first-round playoff sweep, but the two men remain close.
When Davis watched the tape of the Suns, who were 6-3 entering Tuesday night, he said he saw characteristics he expected from a Williams-coached team.
“Everything that they’re doing right now: toughness, great pace, they play hard,” Davis said. “Their roster fits Monty’s style and his system. And when I played with him it was a great time. He was a great coach.”
There was a chance, at one time, that Williams could have been Davis’ coach again. The Lakers strongly considered Williams a candidate during their offseason coaching search, but they never officially extended him an offer.
Instead, Williams took a job offer from the Suns, becoming the franchise’s fifth head coach in as many seasons. Williams said he was more conflicted about his current job at the time, assistant coach for the Philadelphia 76ers, than he was about a possible Lakers offer.
“I didn’t have a process of choosing anything,” he said. “(Suns owner Robert) Sarver offered me a great opportunity. If anything I was torn about it was the playoffs with Philly and trying to figure out how to balance a job opportunity and the present job I had. So that was my mindset during that time.”
So far, the turnout has been a win-win for the Lakers, who started 7-2 under Frank Vogel, and Williams, who has inspired some optimism for a Phoenix franchise that hasn’t done much winning lately.
Davis said he never thought about the possibility of Williams becoming his coach in L.A. – he was still occupied in New Orleans at the time. But he was happy to see Williams find some early success with his new team.
“I expected nothing less from him coming in,” he said. “He wanted to be back on the front of the bench and be a head coach and he’s proving why he should be there.”
RONDO TO SIT OUT WEDNESDAY
While the Lakers were glad, on one hand, to get Rajon Rondo back after the veteran point guard missed the first nine games of the season, they already knew that he wouldn’t be playing on Wednesday night against the Golden State Warriors.
While the Lakers did get Rondo healthy enough for a 15-minute restriction in Tuesday’s game, he’s not been medically cleared to play in back-to-backs.That might be some of the thought process in sitting Troy Daniels (left knee soreness) on Tuesday night even though he was cleared to play. Vogel said he didn’t want to put Daniels at risk after he injured his leg in Monday’s practice.
In general, Vogel said, he’s more likely to tweak his rotation on the second game of a back-to-back than the first.
“We digest how tonight goes and then make decisions on tomorrow night,” he said.
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Lakers’ Anthony Davis happy for former coach Monty Williams’ hot start with Suns - OCRegister
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