The Phoenix Suns announced earlier today that they had relieved head coach Mike Budenholzer of his duties after just one season with the team. This marks the third coach that the Suns have let go since the start of the 2022-23 season.
“Competing at the highest level remains our goal, and we failed to meet expectations this season. Our fans deserve better,” wrote the Suns in a brief statement released this morning. “Change is needed.”
BREAKING: The Phoenix Suns have fired head coach Mike Budenholzer after finishing in 11th place with a 36-46 record in his one season, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/ocySLmWDQI
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 14, 2025
A two-time NBA Coach of the Year and a former NBA Champion with the Milwaukee Bucks, Budenholzer was hired as the head coach of the Suns on May 11th, 2024. After opening the year 8-1, Phoenix went 1-9 in its last ten games to finish the season as the Western Conference’s 11th-seed with a 36-46 record.
Since future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant joined the Suns in the 2022-23 off-season, he has never had the same coach for more than one year. If he is still in Phoenix at the start of next season, this will be Durant’s fourth coach in four years.
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A disrespectful move to a great coach
I understood why Mike Budenholzer accepted the Suns’ head coaching job last off-season, but if I were him, I would have never taken on that role. Being the head coach of this version of the Phoenix Suns is maybe the least enticing job in the NBA. When the team plays poorly, the coach takes all the blame. But when the Suns play well, it’s because the star players lived up to their lofty expectations.
As a Milwaukee Bucks fan, I really don’t think Budenholzer has gotten a fair shake at his last two coaching jobs. While coaching the Bucks, Budenholzer found out that one of his brothers had died in a car accident in the first round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs. It is wildly unfair to expect anybody to continue to perform their job at the highest level in the wake of such a tragedy. On top of that, Giannis Antetokounmpo was hurt during that series and forced to miss several games. This resulted in a first-round playoff loss and Budenholzer’s subsequent firing, which was a major disservice by the Bucks, who are on their third coach in two years.
Will the Suns begin to rebuild following the release of HC Mike Budenholzer? 🤔
“This has been a cautionary tale of how dangerous it can be to be the most expensive team in basketball.”—@chiney pic.twitter.com/zcjQS2FT3z
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 14, 2025
Budenholzer didn’t have to wait long to find his next coaching job. One week after he was fired by Milwaukee, he was hired by the Suns on a five-year, $50 million contract. However, sources who spoke to ESPN said that Budenholzer had “issues connecting with the locker room this season,” which ultimately led to his firing after just one year with the team.
I knew that Budenholzer would eventually be fired the minute he signed a contract with the Suns. It was just a matter of timing. I honestly didn’t expect them to get rid of him after one season, but that’s what happened. Now, the Suns will be stuck paying a new head coach as well as the three others they have let go over the last 23 months (Budenholzer, Frank Vogel, and Monty Williams). At least Budenholzer got $50 million out of his one-year tenure.
The Suns have a player problem, not a coaching problem
Ever since I saw the Suns get dog-walked in the first round of the 2023-24 NBA Playoffs, I knew immediately that the organization had a player problem, not a coaching problem. Don’t get me wrong. The coaches have not been great in the desert, but the players have been absolutely gutless during the Kevin Durant era.
There is no killer instinct anywhere on the Suns’ roster. Kevin Durant might have won two championships, but he only did that because he was piggybacking on the success of an already-established Championship contender. Meanwhile, Devin Booker has a 5-4 record in the postseason series, and three of those wins came before KD arrived in Phoenix. We also can’t forget Bradley Beal, who has three postseason series wins compared to six losses.
The Suns are equipped with primadonna superstars who will never accept blame for the fact that they aren’t locked in and motivated enough to win a championship. But because this is the NBA, we won’t place the blame on the players. We’ll place the blame on the coaches, even though the three guys they have fired have combined for two NBA Championships and three Coach of the Year Awards.
I never thought anyone would encroach Jason Kidd’s record as a coach killer but you’ve got to hand it to Kevin Durant: he’s blown past him, notching five — FIVE — pelts in the last six years: Atkinson, Nash, Monty Williams, Vogel and Budd. Hail to the new king.
— Mike Vaccaro (@MikeVacc) April 14, 2025
How many coaches need to lose their jobs before we put some blame on the spineless Phoenix Suns superstars? Since the start of the 2019-20 season, five of Kevin Durant’s head coaches have been fired. Don’t worry, though, I’m sure his sixth head coach in six years will be the winner. If not the sixth coach, then maybe the seventh will work out. Hell, the Suns should ask Phil Jackson to come out of retirement and see if he can win with this squad. If he doesn’t lead this team to a Championship, they’ll just fire him, too! Whoever comes in to be the next coach of the Suns is signing up to be the organization’s sacrificial lamb for when they fail to meet expectations next season.
Kevin Durant has never had a killer instinct. That was proven when he couldn’t get over the hump in OKC, and it has been proven time and time again since he left Golden State. He’s one of the greatest players of all time, and talent-wise, the Phoenix Suns might be the best team in the league. But I am confident that the Kevin Durant era in Phoenix Suns history will end without a championship.
