Monty Williams’ wife is Lisa Keeth. After reaching new heights in his NBA coaching career, Monty Williams suffered through the worst season of his career as he coached the Detroit Pistons to an NBA-worst 14-68 record, which led the Pistons to fire Williams after just one season at the helm.
In 2021, he led the Phoenix Suns back into the playoffs for the first time since 2010. The Suns then went all the way to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1993.
Following his departure from the Suns organization, the Pistons signed Williams to the most lucrative coaching deal in league history, a six-year contract worth $78.5 million, which has helped Williams have a net worth of $25 million. This means that the Pistons still owe Williams $65 million after firing him.
But while Williams’ coaching career has stalled, there’s no doubt that Williams has remained grounded thanks to a loving wife. Let’s get to know more about Monty Williams’ wife Lisa Keeth.
Keeth was born on May 18, 1980, in Oakland, Calif. Based on her LinkedIn profile, Keeth attended Thomas C. Clark High School.
After graduating from high school, Keeth would enroll at Angelo State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration, specializing in marketing. While earning her degree, Keeth also played for Angelo State University’s women’s volleyball squad.
During her senior year, Keeth was named Holland Sportswoman of the Year. Furthermore, she was also part of the organization called American Marketing Association.
After earning her degree in marketing, Keeth would start her career with Spurs Sports & Entertainment. In 2004, Keeth was hired as a Partnership Suite Sales Associate by the sports entertainment firm.
Three years later, Keeth started to climb up the ranks. As the years passed, she filled positions such as Partnership Activation Coordinator, Manager of Partnership Activation, and Director of Partnership Activation.
Currently, Keeth continues to work for the sports entertainment organization, this time as a Senior Manager of Partnership Activation, after the business promoted her in 2013.
It’s unknown how Williams first met Keeth. However, it’s possible that the couple first met through Keeth’s Spurs Sports & Entertainment firm given that Williams also worked with the San Antonio Spurs as a player and coaching intern.
The couple eventually tied the knot in 2017 at a private ceremony, a year after Williams lost his first wife Ingrid Williams to a tragic car accident.
By marrying Keeth, she is now the stepmother to Williams’ children from his first marriage. These include sons Elijah and Micah and also daughters Faith, Lael and Janna.
Wow. Former #Suns head coach Monty Williams says his wife found out she had breast cancer during in the playoffs. @12SportsAZ pic.twitter.com/aoKZHY4fvs
— Cameron Cox (@CamCox12) June 13, 2023
After signing the record-breaking deal with the Detroit Pistons, Williams revealed to the public that while it was glamorous to lead the Phoenix Suns back into being a playoff contender, the decorated coach was also dealing with issues bigger than basketball. Earlier this year, Williams confessed that Keeth was diagnosed with breast cancer during the Suns’ playoff run in 2023.
At the press conference, Williams made sure to increase awareness on the dreaded disease by saying “The reason I bring that up is to not talk about the family, but to make it more of an emphasis that women need early detection testing. We had genetic testing done and scan after scan, and we found it early. That might’ve saved my wife’s life and it might save others.”
Given Williams’ desire to be with his family, it wasn’t surprising that he initially intended to sit out the 2023-2024 season. However, due to the persistence and patience displayed by the Pistons’ front office while getting early results of his wife’s diagnosis, the former Suns coach was swayed to take on the Pistons’ head-coaching job.
In the same press conference, Williams revealed “We got great news that we would find out about her situation a lot earlier than we thought we would and out of the blue, I got a text from Troy after they had their pow-wow about me, which I thought was totally off the table. I talked to my wife (Tuesday) about whether we should talk about that publicly, but that was a huge part of my decision making, and the patience that Troy and Mr. Gores had with me and with us as we navigated that told me a lot.”
Nevertheless, this is all the information that we know about Monty Williams’ wife Lisa Keeth.
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