Inside The Heat

Monty Williams Dismissal Leaves Miami Heat's Erik Spoelstra As One Of Two NBA Finals Coaches Since 2018 To Avoid Firing

Miami Heat's Erik Spoelstra and Golden State's Steve Kerr are the only two remaining
Shandel Richardson|
Monty Williams Dismissal Leaves Miami Heat's Erik Spoelstra As One Of Two NBA Finals Coaches Since 2018 To Avoid Firing
Monty Williams Dismissal Leaves Miami Heat's Erik Spoelstra As One Of Two NBA Finals Coaches Since 2018 To Avoid Firing

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Miami Heat

There was a time when making the NBA Finals was the ultimate job security.

Apparently, those days are over.

Monty Williams, formerly of the Phoenix Suns, marked the sixth firing of an NBA Finals coach since 2018. The others were Mike Budenholzer (Milwaukee Bucks), Tyronn Lue (Cleveland Cavaliers), Nick Nurse (Toronto Raptors), Frank Vogel (Los Angeles Lakers) and Ime Udoka (Boston Celtics). It should be noted all but Udoka's were performance-based.

That leaves only the Miami Heat's Erik Spoelstra and Steve Kerr (Golden State Warriors) remaining. Williams, Budenholzer and Nurse, the latest casualties, are proof of today's "win-now" mentality.

Last season Williams was named Coach of the Year. Nurse won a title in 2019 and was the Coach of the Year during the 2020 bubble season. Budenholzer led the Bucks to the 2021 crown before a first-round loss to the Heat ended his tenure.

Naturally, the coaching fraternity reacted with disappointment but know it's the nature of the business.

"My first response is not necessarily shock," Kerr said of the Budenholzer firing. "It’s more disappointment because Bud is a fantastic coach, just won a championship, and has been wildly successful in his coaching career."

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Shandel Richardson covers the Miami Heat for Inside The Heat.

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star. TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here

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