Monty Williams to miss remainder of season

Thunder assistant coach Monty Williams will be taking a leave of absence for the rest of the season. Monty's wife, Ingrid, was killed in an automobile accident on February 10th.

Via the Thunder's official press release:

Oklahoma City Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti:

"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. 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."

Oklahoma City Thunder Head Coach Billy Donovan:

"I have really enjoyed my relationship with Monty, and 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."

Best wishes to Coach Williams and his family as they struggle through this difficult time. Hopefully Williams can make a full return to the Thunder next season.

The Thunder, partially due to the absence of Monty Williams, promoted Oklahoma City Blue head coach Mark Daigneault to Donovan's staff. This occurred back on February 17th.