Deandre Ayton speaks out on incident with Monty Williams during Wizards game

Apr 19, 2022; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton (22) against the New Orleans Pelicans during game two of the first round for the 2022 NBA playoffs at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Deandre Ayton is speaking out after giving Phoenix Suns fans some bad flashbacks this week.

The Suns suffered a bad loss on Tuesday night to the reeling Washington Wizards, losing at home 113-110. A video taken from the stands during the game showed the Suns center Ayton getting into it with head coach Monty Williams in a timeout huddle. The two men were seen having a very heated disagreement. Here is the video:

Deandre Ayton and Monty Williams got into a heated exchange on the bench 👀pic.twitter.com/kqEF9wbAIt

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) December 21, 2022

The former No. 1 overall pick Ayton addressed the incident after the game.

“We weren’t really exchanging words,” Ayton said, per Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic. “We’re a family. He knows how to talk to his boys and his boys know how to communicate. Obviously, the whole world sees it, but it’s really all love and just getting us to regroup and take out the confusion.”

Williams also downplayed the episode in his postgame press conference.

“It was the whole team in those moments,” Williams said, also per Rankin. “It wasn’t just Deandre, it was the whole group out there not executing properly. It was a bit of frustration, but that happens. That was not an isolated one-person or one-player thing.”

Phoenix was playing on the second night of a back-to-back (and without the likes of Devin Booker, Cameron Payne, and Cameron Johnson with injury). The Ayton-Williams incident occurred with under a minute left to go in the fourth quarter and the Suns down 107-100 to a Wizards team that had lost their last ten straight games.

Tense exchanges happen in the heat of battle all the time. But this one was especially concerning knowing what we know about Ayton and Williams. Ayton signed an offer sheet with the Indiana Pacers in the summer, seeming poised to leave Phoenix. But the Suns matched it to bring Ayton back, and he has not seemed thrilled ever since. Ayton also had a similar blow-up with Williams in the embarrassing loss that ended Phoenix’s 2021-22 season.