List of Phoenix Suns head coaches
The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA).[1] Founded in 1968, the Suns are chronologically the second-oldest team in the Western Conference. The Suns are also chronologically the third-oldest team in the NBA to have never won an NBA Championship while having played in the NBA Finals at least once.[2][3] The Suns play their home games at the Talking Stick Resort Arena (formerly the American West Arena and the US Airways Center).[1]
The Phoenix Suns franchise has had 20 head coaches. John MacLeod is the franchise's all-time leader in coaching years and games won, winning the most regular-season and playoff games.[4] Cotton Fitzsimmons and Mike D'Antoni are the only coaches to have won the NBA Coach of the Year Award with the Suns. The Suns never have been coached by a Basketball Hall of Fame inductee. Paul Westphal has the highest all-time winning percentage with the Suns with a .685 percentage.[5] Alvin Gentry was named head coach after Terry Porter was dismissed by the Suns after 51 games in 2008.[6] Gentry left the Phoenix Suns under mutual agreement to part ways on January 18, 2013.[7] He was replaced by Lindsey Hunter halfway through the 2012–13 NBA season. He has since been replaced by former Suns player Jeff Hornacek. Former Pelicans coach Monty Williams was hired to coach the team on May 3, 2019.
Key
GC | Games coached |
W | Wins |
L | Losses |
Win% | Winning percentage |
# | Number of coaches[a] |
* | Spent entire NBA head coaching career with the Suns |
Coaches
Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2019–20 season.
# | Name | Term[b] | GC | W | L | Win% | GC | W | L | Win% | Achievements | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||
1 | Johnny Kerr | 1968–1969 | 120 | 31 | 89 | .258 | — | — | — | — | [8] | |
2 | Jerry Colangelo* | 1970 | 44 | 24 | 20 | .545 | 7 | 3 | 4 | .429 | [9] | |
3 | Cotton Fitzsimmons | 1970–1972 | 164 | 97 | 67 | .591 | — | — | — | — | [10] | |
4 | Butch van Breda Kolff | 1972 | 7 | 3 | 4 | .429 | — | — | — | — | [11] | |
— | Jerry Colangelo* | 1972–1973 | 75 | 35 | 40 | .467 | — | — | — | — | [9] | |
5 | John MacLeod | 1973–1987 | 1122 | 579 | 543 | .516 | 81 | 37 | 44 | .457 | [4] | |
6 | Dick Van Arsdale* | 1987 | 26 | 14 | 12 | .538 | — | — | — | — | [12] | |
7 | John Wetzel* | 1987–1988 | 82 | 28 | 54 | .341 | — | — | — | — | [13] | |
— | Cotton Fitzsimmons | 1988–1992 | 328 | 217 | 111 | .662 | 40 | 21 | 19 | .525 | 1988–89 NBA Coach of the Year[14] | [10] |
8 | Paul Westphal | 1992–1996 | 279 | 191 | 88 | .685 | 44 | 25 | 19 | .568 | [5] | |
— | Cotton Fitzsimmons | 1996 | 49 | 27 | 22 | .551 | 4 | 1 | 3 | .250 | [10] | |
9 | Danny Ainge* | 1996–1999 | 226 | 136 | 90 | .602 | 12 | 3 | 9 | .250 | [15] | |
10 | Scott Skiles | 1999–2002 | 195 | 116 | 79 | .595 | 13 | 5 | 8 | .385 | [16] | |
11 | Frank Johnson* | 2002–2003 | 134 | 63 | 71 | .470 | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | [17] | |
12 | Mike D'Antoni | 2003–2008 | 389 | 253 | 136 | .650 | 51 | 26 | 25 | .510 | 2004–05 NBA Coach of the Year | [18] |
13 | Terry Porter | 2008–2009 | 51 | 28 | 23 | .549 | — | — | — | — | [19] | |
14 | Alvin Gentry | 2009–2013 | 261 | 158 | 144 | .523 | 16 | 10 | 6 | .625 | [20] | |
15 | Lindsey Hunter* | 2013 | 41 | 12 | 29 | .293 | — | — | — | — | [21] | |
16 | Jeff Hornacek | 2013–2016 | 213 | 101 | 112 | .474 | — | — | — | — | [22] | |
17 | Earl Watson* | 2016–2017 | 118 | 33 | 85 | .280 | — | — | — | — | [23] | |
18 | Jay Triano | 2017–2018 | 79 | 21 | 58 | .266 | — | — | — | — | [24] | |
19 | Igor Kokoškov* | 2018–2019 | 82 | 19 | 63 | .232 | — | — | — | — | [25] | |
20 | Monty Williams | 2019–present | 73 | 34 | 39 | .466 | — | — | — | — | [26] |
-
Igor Kokoškov head coach of the Phoenix Suns 2018–2019.
-
Monty Williams current head coach of the Phoenix Suns.
Notes
- a A running total of the number of coaches of the Suns. Thus, any coach who has two or more separate terms as head coach is only counted once.
- b Each year is linked to an article about that particular NBA season.
References
- General
- "Phoenix Suns Coach Register". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on July 20, 2008. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
- "All-time Suns Coaches and Records". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on February 6, 2005. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
- Specific
- ^ a b "Phoenix Suns History Index". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
- ^ "A Chronology of the Teams in the NBA". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
- ^ "NBA Finals: All-time Champions". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
- ^ a b "John MacLeod Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
- ^ a b "Paul Westphal Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
- ^ "Alvin Gentry Named Interim Head Coach by the Suns". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. February 16, 2009. Retrieved March 16, 2009.
- ^ "Suns, coach Alvin Gentry part ways". ESPN.com. ESPN. January 18, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
- ^ "Red Kerr Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
- ^ a b "Jerry Colangelo Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
- ^ a b c "Cotton Fitzsimmons Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
- ^ "Butch Van Breda Kolff Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
- ^ "Dick Van Arsdale Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
- ^ "John Wetzel Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
- ^ "Coach of the Year". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on September 15, 2010. Retrieved December 20, 2008.
- ^ "Danny Ainge Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
- ^ "Scott Skiles Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
- ^ "Frank Johnson Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 24, 2008. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
- ^ "Mike D'Antoni Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
- ^ "Terry Porter Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 16, 2009.
- ^ "Alvin Gentry Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 16, 2009.
- ^ "Lindsey Hunter Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 24, 2013. Retrieved January 20, 2013.
- ^ "Jeff Hornacek Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 19, 2014. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
- ^ "Suns Name Earl Watson Interim Head Coach". NBA.com. February 1, 2016. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
- ^ "Suns Relieve Earl Watson of Head Coaching Duties". NBA.com. October 22, 2017. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
- ^ "Suns Agree to Terms with Igor Kokoškov To Become New Head Coach". NBA.com. May 2, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
- ^ "Suns Agree to Terms with Monty Williams To Become New Head Coach". NBA.com. May 3, 2019. Retrieved May 3, 2019.