Anthony Edwards kicked the ball to the corner, and the Suns got what they wanted. A last-second shot from anyone not named Anthony Edwards. He had 40 points on 15-of-21 shooting, so forcing the ball out of his hands was the only thing that mattered. When Jaden McDaniels floated up that awkward three, overtime drifted through the air with it. When it missed, the game ended.
The Suns went into Minnesota without their top two scoring options and walked out with a win. On a national broadcast on Peacock,
the postgame spotlight did not land on Devin Booker. It did not land on Jalen Green. It did not land on Dillon Brooks. It landed on Mark Williams, who added another strong chapter to a résumé that keeps growing.
It is hard not to hold grudges. We get told to forgive and forget, yet human nature does not always cooperate. Forgetting means letting go of the emotions tied to whatever we are supposed to forgive. In sports, emotion often becomes fuel, and for Mark Williams, his road to the Phoenix Suns is paved with moments that now power him forward.
Drafted out of Duke, he spent three years with the Charlotte Hornets, although it was not time filled with warmth from the franchise. He produced when he played, yet health always hovered over him like a shadow. We know the story. He appeared in 106 games out of a possible 246. When he did step on the floor, he tilted games in a positive direction. He scored efficiently around the rim. He swallowed rebounds. He lived in double-double territory with 12.4 points and 8.8 boards during his time there.
Then came the moment that shifted everything.
Last season, Charlotte tried to trade him to the Los Angeles Lakers. The deal fell apart. The Lakers said he failed his physical. My own belief leans toward the backlash from their fans when Dalton Knecht’s name appeared in the trade package. That fan base had seen what happened in Dallas when Luka Doncic arrived. They were not eager to experience their own version of a firestorm. Maybe it was the physical. Maybe it was the noise. Either way, the trade died.
Imagine hearing you were shipped out, then waking up the next morning and being told to return to business as usual. That does something to a person. Williams finished the season like a pro, head down, work in front of him. Yet the sting lingered.
When Jordan Cornette held the microphone to him after Monday night’s win, that history, that emotion, that internal fire, all of it came through.
“It’s home, man. It feels great to be here. It feels great to be out here with my teammates. It’s good to be wanted,” Williams said to the national audience.
You’re goddamn right you are wanted, Mark.
The Phoenix Suns are a franchise built on guards, forever chasing that mythical big man who ties everything together. Sure, a few quality centers have walked through that locker room, but this has never been a franchise defined by interior dominance. Ask yourself who you would even call the best center in Suns history. Alvan Adams? That name comes from nearly forty years ago. Deandre Ayton? Out-of-position Amaré Stoudemire? Oliver Miller?
Here is a fun fact for the brave. The only centers to crack the franchises top 10 in rebounds per game for a single season are Neal Walk at 12.4 in 1972-73 and Jusuf Nurkic at 11.0 in 2023-24. Everyone else on that list is a forward. That is the legacy. This is not a line of Hall of Famers. This is not Nash or Kidd or Paul or Kevin Johnson. So when Suns fans see effective center play, they cling to it, because they know the long desert walk without it.
What Mark Williams is giving this team every night goes beyond effective. It is energizing. It is a jolt of something we are not used to seeing in this uniform. He runs the floor on every possession. He is a real lob threat, the kind of player whose hands you trust when you float the ball in the air. He hits the glass with purpose. He finishes with force.
Hell, the guy can even hit three pointers.
But it is more than his play that has this fan base falling for Williams. It is his softness, the gentle giant thing he carries around with him, the way he speaks with appreciation for this team and this city. He said it feels like home, and that is exactly what it has become.
There is still a long road ahead for the Suns, yet the care they have shown with Williams has been impressive. Through the first 24 games, he has played 20 of them. That is the most he has ever played through this point in a season, his previous high being 19 of 24 in 2023-24. His production has been huge, and the team has matched it by operating with a level of thoughtfulness around his health. That matters. That is how you treat family. You make sure they feel right. You put them in a spot where success is possible.
And he has delivered success.
He is scoring 13.2 points and pulling down 8.6 rebounds while shooting 65.8%. That is the 4th-best shooting percentage of any player who attempts 7 or more shots per game. He has been a revelation at the center position for Phoenix, and he fits perfectly with the identity this team has built. Tough. Gritty. A little angry at the world. A little hungry to prove something.
The Suns do not live in the land of forgive and forget. They live in remember why. They live with chips on their shoulders. And Mark Williams carries one with pride.
