Monty Williams hired by Thunder as top assistant coach

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, Monty Williams has been hired as the Oklahoma City Thunder's top assistant coach. The Thunder are reportedly still looking for a #2 assistant coach, ideally with strong defensive abilities. The #3 assistant coach has already been named as Anthony Grant, while Mark Bryant and Darko Rajakovic will stay on as specialists.

Former Thunder assistant coach Maurice Cheeks may have also been in consideration for the top assistant position at some point. For all we know, Cheeks could still be in candidacy for the #2 assistant position. Thibodeau would be a nice pipe dream for the job, but it will more likely be someone that hoop heads haven't heard of. According to NewsOK, Andy Greer, Nate Tibbetts, and Brian Keefe were in consideration for hires.

Monty Williams was most recently the head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans. In two of Williams five seasons, the Hornets/Pelicans reached the playoffs. Both of Williams' playoff runs ended in the first round. However, both playoff runs saw Williams coach a high-level talent. The 2010-11 Hornets had Chris Paul, while the 2012-15 Pelicans had Anthony Davis.

Prior to Williams' head coaching gig, he was an assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers from 2005-2010. The Blazers made the playoffs during the final two years of that run, losing in the first round both times. Williams also got some assistant coaching experience last Summer, serving as an assistant coach for Team USA Basketball. Williams will continue to serve as an assistant coach on Team USA through the 2016 Olympics. Durant and Westbrook will also likely play on Team USA in 2016. Williams also has a ring, having won the 2005 finals with the San Antonio Spurs as a coaching staff intern.

Monty Williams also saw a run as a player in the NBA. Williams played a total of 9 seasons for the Knicks, Spurs, Nuggets, Magic, and 76ers. The most successful team Monty was a part of was the 2002-03 76ers, whom lost the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals to the Detroit Pistons. Individually, Williams earned no official accolades. Still, Monty did manage to average 9 points per game on 50% shooting in just 20 minutes for the 1996-97 San Antonio Spurs. Williams was also selected 24th in the 1994 NBA Draft.

Williams' college days were spent at the University of Notre Dame. Most notable is Williams' 93-94 senior season, in which he averaged 22.4 points and 8.4 rebounds and was an honorable mention All-American. Notre Dame's most successful season with Williams was his Freshman year, 89-90. The Fighting Irish went 16-13 that year, and lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Also of note is the fact that Williams had to sit out the 90-91 and 91-92 seasons due to hypertropic cardiomyopathy. It's a rare condition of thicker than normal muscle between the chambers of the heart. Originally, Williams is from Washington, D.C. There, Williams earned a 4.0 at Potomac High School.