Deron Williams on Avery Johnson being fired: 'I was surprised'

Much of today was spent connecting the dots in wondering how it came to be that Avery Johnson went from being the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month in November to being fired less than a month later.

While much of the discussion had to do with Johnson's system and the team's struggle in the month of December (3-10), most of the chatter was on how involved Deron Williams was in making this decision -- not whether or not he was actually involved.

According to Williams, however, he had no involvement in the decision to fire Avery and, in fact, was "surprised" when he had learned about the team cutting ties with his head coach.

"I was surprised," Williams said in a telephone interview with Daily News. "I never had any conversation with (GM) Billy King about not liking coach, nothing about coach Johnson. Avery was a big reason I came back, because him and Billy. So I was surprised.

In fact, Deron took it one step further in saying that he and Avery didn't even have an argument or disagreement.

"We've never had an argument, we've never had a fight, any disagreements, anything. So, I think it was more kind of what happened in Utah, people still saying I got coach Sloan fired even though he resigned and that's going to stick with me for a while."

It's his word against, well, the perception of many, but where Williams stands right now is that it is believed that he has now gotten two coaches fired, while it's on record, by Williams himself, that he has had nothing to do with either Johnson or Sloan losing their respective job.

In this case, though, unfortunately for Williams it seems as if actions speak louder than words.

• Deron Williams ‘surprised’ to learn that Avery Johnson was fired by Brooklyn Nets, says he never had a disagreement with coach - Stefan Bondy - NY Daily News
• Deron Williams says he is not responsible for Avery Johnson firing - Stephen A. Smith - ESPN
• Deron Williams “surprised” Avery Johnson was fired - Kurt Helin - NBC Sports