The Phoenix Suns have been so much fun to watch this season, and center Mark Williams has been one of the main reasons for that.
The ultimate compliment you can give the former Charlotte Hornet is that you can tell immediately when he is not out there, if he is sitting out the second night of a back-to-back.
Williams feels like he is home in The Valley.
In the aftermath of perhaps their best win of the season so far over the Minnesota Timberwolves, the center was interviewed on national television and could not resist gushing about his love for Phoenix.
RT if you're also excited that Mark is home here 🫶 pic.twitter.com/oD65kzMTKZ
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) December 9, 2025
It sounds so simple, but the fact Williams is wanted by head coach Jordan Ott and the entire team is why they have gotten the best out of him this season.
There has been no negativity or whispers around why he still isn't appearing on those second night games, while his absence throughout all of preseason could have been a concern.
Instead coach Ott kept the same line with media, which was that Williams was coming along at his own pace and the franchise was happy with how that was going. It has paid off massively.
Williams turning in the best season of his still young career on the defensive end, while he appears content to give up some points and boards each night if it means winning games.
The importance of that when he is eligible for an extension cannot be overstated, while the team are an above average defensive unit in large part because of him.
If you go back 12 months, Williams constantly heard his name in trade rumors and infamously was sent to the Los Angeles Lakers, only for them to veto the deal. During that same period, the Suns traded with the Hornets for their other big man in Nick Richards.
Taking a chance, which came at the price of two first round picks, on Williams was a gamble, but one which has paid off. It has also made Richards expendable, and the organization may yet be able to move him at the deadline as well.
You only have to look at how guys like Richards or Oso Ighodaro have tried to fill in for Williams when he has been unavailable, to see that he is the obvious long-term solution here.
As long as the fans and his teammates continue to show him love, with coach Ott backing him all the way, Phoenix is going to get even more out of Mark Williams.