Watch Monty Williams’ heartfelt locker room speech for 8-0 Phoenix Suns

Monty Williams gave his Phoenix Suns a heartfelt speech after they went 8-0.

No matter what happens, nobody can ever take this bubble experience away from the Phoenix Suns.

After a 128-112 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, Devin Booker and the Suns moved to a perfect 8-0 during the NBA restart in Orlando, winning every single seeding game thrown their way.

They bested playoff teams, beat the LA Clippers on Booker’s incredible game-winning buzz-beater and defeated Luka Doncic and the Mavs twice en route to that undefeated mark. So even though the Suns still need help in the form of a Portland Trail Blazers loss to qualify for the play-in spot, they did all they could to give themselves a fighting chance.

Monty Williams’ heartfelt locker room speech reflected how proud he was of this young group for buying into the team’s approach of maximizing this bubble experience and focusing on always “doing the next right thing.”

Monty’s postgame locker room speech for the Phoenix Suns was powerful

Williams gave one heck of a rousing speech after the Mavs win, showing his appreciation for this young team, their focus in Orlando and the experience of getting to know them better.

“From Flagstaff ’til now, it’s just been an unreal ride,” he said. “We’ve gotta go back to the hotel and see what happens, but I just want you guys to know this before that happens: This was therapeutic for me to be around a group like this. I’ve gotta tell you guys, man, I love you. I do. I don’t care what happens tonight; I know what I’ve got in this room. It has been cool for me to be with y’all every day, to watch you guys work and battle and gain the respect of your peers the way you have on this trip. We’re not the Suns of old.”

Williams then turned and pointed to Devin Booker, saying, “You’ve been through a lot. You’ve been through a lot.”

Booker, who joins Damian Lillard as one of the two frontrunners for the NBA’s Player of the Seeding Games award, certainly has been through a lot, including five head coaches, two general managers, over 70 different teammates and zero winning seasons in his first five NBA seasons. He’s been unfairly labeled as an empty calories player, but after showing out on the national stage in Orlando, he and the Suns will look to bury that false narrative for good.

“It’s hard to to play the way you played every night and not get the respect that you deserve,” Williams said, addressing the whole team again. “Well guess what? You got it. So I don’t care what happens. God knows I hope we get a chance to keep shocking the world, ’cause that’s what you did — nobody believed we’d come here and go 8-0 and beat the teams we beat. But just know man, this was special. I don’t care what happens, this is special. Don’t let anybody take this away from y’all — you’ve gained the respect of the league. Now, we’ve gotta build on it.

“We may get to build on it this weekend, or it may happen in the summer. We don’t control it. We’ve gotta get to the point where we control it. You understand that? You want to be the kind of team that controls their own destiny. That’s our next step.”

Speeches like this that belong in movies, and this one in particular is a testament to why Williams is a shoo-in for the Coach of Seeding Games award.