Giannis Invited Monty Williams into Locker Room for Speech After Bucks Beat Suns

Antetokounmpo said Williams congratulated him on the championship, which prompted Giannis to invite Williams into the locker room.

Regarding that scene, Giannis said:

“I walked in with him in the locker room. So, I had the people stop the music and stop the champagne. And he was able to talk to the team and congratulate us. We congratulate him, too, and wish him luck. And I told him, I said, ‘I feel like there’s a good chance we might run it back next year.’ He has a great team, and we have a great team.”

Giannis and the Bucks overcame a 2-0 series deficit by winning four straight games and bringing the franchise its first championship in 50 years.

Despite falling short, it was a banner year for the Suns as well considering they hadn’t reached the playoffs since 2010.

Williams led Phoenix to the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference and was named an NBA Coach of the Year finalist for his efforts.

The Suns also beat the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs before running through the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers en route to their first Finals since 1993.

As Giannis suggested, both the Bucks and Suns are in a strong position to make another run toward the Finals next season given the state of their rosters.

Milwaukee will return Giannis, Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday, Brook Lopez and others, while the Suns will bring back Devin Booker and Jae Crowder, plus Chris Paul if he exercises his player option, as well as Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges after the Suns exercised club options on both.

Bucks versus Suns was a unique and somewhat unexpected Finals matchup given the past several seasons, but both teams are well equipped to be in the mix for many years to come.