A great example of interpreting the concept of defeat in a successful way

The NBA season has just ended and the Bucks, dragged by Giannis Antetokounmpo's 50 points in Game 6, won the Finals winning a title they had been waiting for 50 years. And yet, while the whole Milwaukee was in celebration, with 65,000 people outside the Fiserv Forum and 18,000 inside, champagne, cameras, confetti everywhere, Tavares Montgomery Williams, known as Monty Williams, Phoenix Suns’ Head Coach, managed to interpret the concept of defeat in noblest possible fashion.

He has just lost the most important game of his career (so far): the Phoenix Suns were leading the Finals 2-0, immediately recovered by Bucks, lost the home factor, however they fought for 3 consecutive games falling only in the final minutes and finally seeing their opponents celebrate at their home. It is never easy to accept the defeat and it must not have been easy, considering he was in the first Finals of his career. Yet despite the defeat, Monty Williams made a huge gesture, neither predictable nor ordinary. Few minutes after the final siren, with the same jumper he wore before on the bench, cap on his head, he showed up inside the Bucks’ locker room, visibly emotional. He went to the center of the locker room. He hugged Giannis Antetokounmpo, who still had the Finals’ MVP trophy under his arm. Then, he spoke, interrupting Bucks celebrations just for a moment and only to pay homage to them. A few words chosen with care: “I came to congratulate you and your coach: you were very good. I thank you for this experience. You made me a better manager and you made my team grow. Sincere congratulations".

It was not a forced act for the cameras: the video, relaunched by the official NBA channel, was shot by one of the people present in the locker room with his mobile. The choice and the gesture take on even more value, even in an environment like the NBA which has always made sportsmanship and the ability to recognize the value of opponents some of its cornerstones; it is the best way to tell what sport is even in defeat, how to live it, what approach to have towards oneself and opponents.

To understand better it, we could go back to some days ago when Italy beat England in a penalty shootout to win the European soccer championship restoring its reputation after being humiliated four years ago when it failed to qualify for the World Cup. The Italians lifted the trophy up in the air and danced in celebration on the grass with their supporters as the rest of the stadium emptied for English fans stumbled out of Wembley after the full-time whistle. And this wasn’t the only sad episode which scarred England’s defeat: hundreds of hooligans clashed with the police before the match, they booed the visiting team’s national anthem, there were disorders in the aftermath and online racist abuses of England’s unlucky penalty-takers. English team was not exempt from poor sportsmanship acts: while coach Gareth Southgate?kept his runners-up medal around his neck, most Three Lions players removed theirs immediately after being presented with. Removing silver medals has been a trend in the sporting world in recent years: many athletes apparently feel that coming second is not something to celebrate and they did not want to carry a reminder of their “defeat”. Despite putting in a strong performance against the four-time world champions, this young and talented team representing a vibrant and diverse nation not only lost Euro 2020 but they also lost a huge opportunity to show that they’re an admirable team with exemplary fans as HC Monty Williams did.

Not that of the 3 Lions and their fans but certainly that of HC Monty Williams is the respect that the sport can teach. HC Monty Williams showed us the strength to accept defeat, even if it was burning, even if it came on the most important day (for the moment). He taught us that defeat is necessary, a preparatory and necessary step to instill the winning mentality and redeem ourselves at the next useful opportunity, but which is not experienced in the same way by all the awesome interpreters of the sports’ world.

I close by recalling that for those who do not know HC Monty Williams well, he is not only a great basketball connoisseur, but he has always been able to stand out for his depth and humanity. A man, even before a coach, different from the others, to whom life has reserved an immense suffering after the sudden death, in 2016, of his wife Ingrid, 44, in a car accident in Oklahoma City where Williams was at the time associate head coach. A car invaded the lane where she was driving, colliding with her car while she was transporting three of their five children (fortunately unharmed) too. Williams stopped for two years, then he chose to start again from his job, basketball. First lead assistant coach in Philadelphia, and then moved, two seasons ago, to lead the Suns as head coach and revive the fortunes of a team in crisis unable to reach the playoffs in the last decade. In two seasons the Phoenix Suns, thanks to his work, have definitely changed pace, from 19 victories two seasons ago to 34 last year victories, during his first year on Suns’ bench, and to the outstanding 51 wins of this season, which saw Phoenix’s team beat the Los Angeles Clippers 4-2, the NBA champions LA Lakers 4-2 and the Denver Nuggets, the other Western Conference finalists, 4-0, before losing 2-4 in front of the overwhelming power of the Bucks and their young star, Giannis Antetokounmpo, a few shoots from game 7.

For this man who was able to redeem himself and reborn also thanks to basketball, having brought a team in crisis to game 6 of the finals in two years remains an extraordinary achievement. On the court he may have lost, but this defeat made him stronger. He is already a champion, he will certainly soon have another opportunity to take the ring too.