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The Detroit Pistons fired Monty Williams on Wednesday after just one season on the bench despite signing a whopping six-year, $78.5 million contract in 2023.
Adrian Wojnarowski, one of the best-sourced journalists inside the NBA, noted on ESPN that the Pistons still owe their now-former coach more than $65 million.
At the time he signed with Detroit, that contract was the largest ever signed by a coach in the NBA. However, the subsequent re-signings of Gregg Popovich (San Antonio Spurs), Steve Kerr (Golden State Warriors) and Erik Spoelstra (Miami Heat) moved him down that list in both annual salary and total contract size.
Disappointing tenure in Detroit
In any case, this firing ends Williams' very disappointing tenure in Detroit, a team that this year broke the NBA's all-time record for consecutive losses in a single season with 28 straight losses.
The coach had arrived in the Motown city to rebuild a franchise in ruins and in his first and only year with the team, he finished bottom of the East with a 14-68 record.
Voted NBA Coach of the Year in 2022 with the Suns, Williams led the Phoenix team, with Chris Paul and Devin Booker, to the Finals that year, where they lost to Giannis Antetokounmpo's Milwaukee Bucks for the title. The Pistons do not have a replacement for Williams at this time.