'This is getting ridiculous': Chris Paul's mom told Monty Williams to have eye procedure

Chris Paul’s mom had seen enough.

Watching Monty Williams squinting while checking out his son play in a basketball game in Augusta, Georgia, Robin Paul kept it 100% with the Suns head coach.

“She respectfully called me over to the other side and we were talking and she’s like, ‘Coach, you’ve got to get your eyes fixed,’” said Williams, smiling. “‘This is getting ridiculous.’ I’ve been around them for so long. When she did that, I was like, OK. I thought about it for a while.”

Williams began to wonder what was stopping him from addressing his eyesight.

“I started to look at the money I make and the quality of life I could have if I just took care of myself,” said Williams, who signed a contract extension in the offseason. “I spent so much time not even thinking about that.”

Williams ultimately decided to have team ophthalmologist, Dr. Jay Schwartz, perform lens replacement surgery this past summer on both eyes.

“Doc pretty much talked me into it and then Chris Paul’s mom pretty much called me on the carpet down in Augusta this summer,” said Williams, who turned 51 Saturday. “… I came right home to Phoenix and talked to Dr. Schwartz and he took care of me. It’s about a five-week period and I’m 20/15 in both eyes.”

He’s no longer struggling to see long distance, either.

“We’ve been talking to him about that for years,” Chris Paul said. “I was talking to my brother (C.J. Paul) the other day, he was watching the game and said it was actually weird to see Monty not squinting. It is crazy to see him not squinting, but we’ve been talking to him about that for years.”

Suns guard Landry Shamet actually mimicked Williams’ squint with a smile when told what Paul said about their coach.

“It’s funny (Chris Paul) said that,” Shamet said. “Now that I think about it, you don’t see that all that often. He’ll do it every once in a while.”

Lasik surgery was an option, but one Williams turned down for multiple reasons.

“Lasik wasn’t good for me,” Williams said. “It would’ve taken away my reading. I was having trouble with far away stuff and Dr Schwartz recommended a different deal to take out my lenses and then put corrective lenses in and it took me a minute to get my head wrapped around it. I wouldn’t even do Lasik. I couldn’t imagine a laser in my eye.”

Williams said he just finished the final drops nearly two weeks ago to complete the five-week process as the procedure is done on each eye one at a time.

Thanks, Mrs. Paul.

Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Suns coach Monty Williams no longer squinting after eye surgery