Suns coach says it was more than basketball with Big John originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
John Thompson II's influence on Phoenix Suns head coach Monty Williams goes way deeper than just the Xs and Os of being a head coach. Williams spoke on how Thompson the former Georgetown University men's basketball head coach impacted Williams' future as a coach in the NBA to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski on the "The Woj Pod Show."
Wojnarowski asked about Thompson's impact on Williams, who stated that growing up in Prince George's County, the former Hoyas coach might as well have been the president for those in the area due to the status he carried.
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"It wasn't just about the basketball," Williams said. "I was young, but I was old enough to know that [Thompson] stood for more than just winning games," Williams said.
"I remember when there was an academic proposition that wasn't fair; he walked out because he felt it wasn't fair and didn't put us all on the same playing field."
Furthermore, he stated that speaking with the people who were old enough to recall the legendary coach, their reverence for Thompson was unique. These kinds of instances that Williams discusses made the late coach a larger-than-life figure who wasn't only concerned about winning basketball games.
The rest of the conversation surrounding Thompson involves using the coach as motivation when he didn't recruit Williams (who went to Notre Dame) and the discussions he had with Thompson later in life before he passed away last year.
