OKLAHOMA CITY – Family first.
Prior to every home game he coached in New Orleans over five NBA seasons, Monty Williams literally embodied that message, demonstrating that his wife and children were the most important people in his life. Williams would leave the Smoothie King Center home locker room, walk out to the court, stop briefly, spot Ingrid and their five children in the stands, then wave to them. At every single home game, it was the first thing he did when he entered the arena.
The Williams family tragically lost Ingrid, 44, on Wednesday, after she was involved in a Tuesday car accident in which her vehicle was struck by another car that had crossed the center line, traveling in the opposite direction. Ingrid’s death was an unbelievable shock to the Pelicans – 12 of their 15 current players had played for Monty and known Ingrid.
“She always had his back,” Pelicans guard Norris Cole said of Ingrid’s support of Monty. “When he came to work, he always knew that his home was stable. There’s nothing like that. My father always used to tell me, ‘There is nothing like being able to go to work knowing that everything is OK at home, because you have a solid background, a solid wife.’ Hopefully Monty and his kids can get through this. Hopefully they think back on all the good times. That’s all you can really do – think of the good times and the lessons she taught them.”
“She was a sweetheart,” Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday said. “She was one of the sweetest ladies I’ve ever met. She was definitely a warrior. She had five kids. Hopefully I get there one day where I have five kids, and my beautiful wife will be able to handle them the way she did. (The Williams children) kind of stuck to her like glue, trailed behind her.”
For several players, including forward Anthony Davis – who was just 19 years old when he arrived in New Orleans as a rookie – Ingrid became a “second mom,” as Davis tweeted Wednesday night after the Pelicans defeated the Jazz. Ingrid made sure to help make the team’s players feel comfortable living in a city that, for the majority of them, is far from family.
“It was really difficult for our guys to get through (last night’s game),” Pelicans Coach Alvin Gentry said 90 minutes prior to tonight’s tip-off. “Because (Monty) has had such an impact on the players, and (Ingrid) had even more of an impact maybe, with the mothering she did for most of the guys, the type of person she is and how she wanted everyone to feel like they had a home away from home. It speaks volumes for the kind of people and family that they were.”