Thunder Assistant Monty Williams To Miss Remainder Of Season

The Oklahoma City Thunder announced Thursday that assistant coach Monty Williams will miss the remainder of the season to spend time with family.

William’s wife Ingrid died after a head-on crash on February 9th. The other driver, Susannah Donaldson, died at the scene.

According to the collision report, Donaldson’s car was traveling at high speed when it crossed the center line to avoid hitting another car, crashing into Williams’ SUV.

Oklahoma City police later said Donaldson's car was going 88 mph five seconds before impact, 92 mph 1.2 seconds before impact and 78 mph at impact.

According to the report, Donaldson was “exceeding speed limit, and that Williams took “no improper action.”

This season is William’s first year serving as a Thunder assistant. Prior to OKC, he served as the head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans.

“The most important thing for Monty during this time is for him to be with his family, and the most important thing for us as an organization is to support him as a person, in any way that we can," said Thunder GM Sam Presti. "Even though Monty will not return to the team this season, his presence will be felt by all of us within the program and we will remain close with him and his family."

Head Coach Billy Donovan also says it's important for Williams to be with his family.

“I have really enjoyed my relationship with Monty," stated head coach Billy Donovan. "Clearly we will miss him, but we value and embrace that it is critical he is there for his family at this time and our focus is on doing whatever we can, in any small way, to help him. He and his family will continue to be in our thoughts.”