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List of Phoenix Suns head coaches

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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 US Airways Center.[1]

The Phoenix Suns franchise has had 16 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 He has since been replaced by former Suns player Jeff Hornacek.

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 2015–16 season.

# Name Term[b] GC W L Win% GC W L Win% Achievements Reference
Regular season Playoffs
1 Johnny Kerr 19681969 120 31 89 .258 [8]
2 Jerry Colangelo* 1970 44 24 20 .545 7 3 4 .429 [9]
3 Cotton Fitzsimmons 19701972 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 19731987 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 19881992 328 217 111 .662 40 21 19 .525 1988–89 NBA Coach of the Year[14] [10]
8 Paul Westphal 19921996 279 191 88 .685 44 25 19 .568 [5]
Cotton Fitzsimmons 1996 49 27 22 .551 4 1 3 .250 [10]
9 Danny Ainge* 19961999 226 136 90 .602 12 3 9 .250 [15]
10 Scott Skiles 19992002 195 116 79 .595 13 5 8 .385 [16]
11 Frank Johnson* 20022003 134 63 71 .470 6 2 4 .333 [17]
12 Mike D'Antoni 20032008 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 20092013 261 145 116 .556 16 10 6 .625 [20]
15 Lindsey Hunter* 2013 41 12 29 .293 [21]
16 Jeff Hornacek* 20132016 213 101 112 .474 [22]
17 Earl Watson* 2016–present 33 9 24 .273 [23]

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. 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. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
Specific
  1. ^ a b "Phoenix Suns History Index". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
  2. ^ "A Chronology of the Teams in the NBA". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
  3. ^ "NBA Finals: All-time Champions". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
  4. ^ a b "John MacLeod Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
  5. ^ a b "Paul Westphal Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
  6. ^ "Alvin Gentry Named Interim Head Coach by the Suns". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. February 16, 2009. Retrieved March 16, 2009.
  7. ^ "Suns, coach Alvin Gentry part ways". ESPN.com. ESPN. January 18, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  8. ^ "Red Kerr Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
  9. ^ a b "Jerry Colangelo Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
  10. ^ a b c "Cotton Fitzsimmons Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
  11. ^ "Butch Van Breda Kolff Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
  12. ^ "Dick Van Arsdale Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
  13. ^ "John Wetzel Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
  14. ^ "Coach of the Year". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved December 20, 2008.
  15. ^ "Danny Ainge Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
  16. ^ "Scott Skiles Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
  17. ^ "Frank Johnson Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
  18. ^ "Mike D'Antoni Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
  19. ^ "Terry Porter Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 16, 2009.
  20. ^ "Alvin Gentry Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 16, 2009.
  21. ^ "Lindsey Hunter Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 20, 2013.
  22. ^ "Jeff Hornacek Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  23. ^ "Suns Name Earl Watson Interim Head Coach". NBA.com. February 1, 2016. Retrieved February 1, 2016.