The Phoenix Suns were arguably the most disappointing team in the NBA this season, and they have not been shy about using former head coach Mike Budenholzer as their scapegoat.
Budenholzer was fired on Monday after just one season at the helm in Phoenix. The Suns went 36-46 and missed the playoffs despite having the highest payroll in the NBA.
Suns owner Mat Ishbia discussed the future of the franchise during a press conference on Thursday. He did not mince words when asked about the decision to make another coaching change.
“There’s a lot of reasons why Coach Bud is not here. I’m not going to get into all those reasons, but definitely believe we should’ve won a lot more games and been a lot more competitive during those games as well,” Ishbia said, via Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic. “Wish him the best, but it was the wrong coach for our organization and for that team and at the end of the day, you can blame me for it because I’m the owner.”
Ishbia said he is the person to blame for hiring the “wrong coach,” but that seemed like a roundabout way of pointing the finger at Budenholzer for the Suns’ struggles this season.
The stance is not surprising. There have been reports that Budenholzer could not coexist with Phoenix’s superstar core of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. Booker supposedly had issues with the coach that affected the rest of the team.
Those reports probably leaked from the Suns organization. Though, Budenholzer and Durant also openly butted heads at times this season.
If the Suns decide to stick with Durant, Booker and Beal, they had better enjoy better results next season. Otherwise, it will quickly become obvious that Budenholzer was not the biggest problem in Phoenix.