Words matter. The Suns needed only 24 of them to let you know exactly how they feel about Mike Budenholzer:
“Competing at the highest level remains our goal, and we failed to meet our expectations this season. Our fans deserve better. Change is needed.”
You could chill an entire subdivision with those words. And after the termination of a third head coach in three seasons, many heavy questions remain:
What happened to the joyous and passionate head coach the Suns unveiled in May 2024, the man who said he would go anywhere in the world to coach the Suns? Or how he would coach the Suns on the moon if necessary? How did his dream job become such a nightmare?
And if Budenholzer was such a calamitous hire, why did the Suns wait until the end of the season to make the change?
The 2024-25 Suns leave an awful legacy. They will go down as the worst NBA super team ever assembled, a $400 million outfit that finished 10 games under .500. They lost as many games (46) as the Suns team that was embroiled in a drug scandal in 1987. They are easily the most disappointing team in franchise history, and the termination was inevitable.
Yet Budenholzer has been a very good NBA head coach in the past. During that introductory press conference, the late Al McCoy called the hiring of Budenholzer, “one of the highlights in Suns history.” And in the weeks leading into the season, Ishbia raved about the early performance of his new head coach.
But there was very little buy-in from the locker room, along with shocking displays of disinterested, disconnected basketball. If this debacle of a season is primarily Budenholzer’s fault, why didn’t Kevin Durant or Devin Booker interject? Why didn’t they revolt? Why didn’t they do something drastic to potentially save the season?
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This is the danger in scapegoating a head coach in the NBA. It can mask deeper issues and even more troubling questions, like: Was the team simply not coachable? Did the roster include too many players who just didn’t care enough about winning and the sacrifices required?
Either way, Budenholzer did himself no favors with his autopilot, tone deaf postgame press conferences, where he never showed an ounce of the passion that marked his debut press conference.
For the second time since Jerry Colangelo sold the team, the Suns have become a laughingstock franchise around the league. The condition won’t get better in the coming days, and Ishbia is paying a heavy price for his impatience and his ambition. And his next chore – refitting a playoff-caliber team around Booker – will be the challenge of a lifetime, one best suited for a proven NBA general manager.
Either way, I wish him the best. Because an owner this generous with team payroll deserves a better outcome and far greater effort from everyone.
Reach Bickley at dbickley@arizonasports.com. Listen to Bickley & Marotta weekdays from 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.
Follow @danbickley
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