news-engine

Former Phoenix Suns head coach Mike D'Antoni recently joined the Suns After Dark podcast with Gerald Bourguet, and he revealed a lot. In an interesting quirk of overlapping eras that many fans will not have realized, D'Antoni and current Suns coach Jordan Ott were both on the staff with the Brooklyn Nets. D'Antoni clearly enjoyed his time working with Ott and trusted him from the jump, as he revealed that he let him take over the offensive game plan quickly. "We were both in charge of the offense, Jordan and I, and after I while I said, 'Jordan just you do it,' because he's really good. You got it, he goes with it... I think you can expect big things out of him and the organization." D'Antoni highly complimentary of Jordan Ott after time in Brooklyn For the leading mind behind the "Seven Seconds or Less" era of Suns basketball to trust a younger coach who, to that point, never had a chance to run a team himself was huge. It speaks to the talent Coach Ott clearly has and that D'Antoni saw in him, but there is more to it than just that. D'Antoni understanding that it was in the best interest of the Nets and another coach's career to take on more responsibility, when he has seen it all in this league, speaks to the kind of coach and person he has always been as well. That is exactly why he is going into the Naismith Hall of Fame. He's a brilliant basketball mind, and he helped spot another earlier than most. Coach Ott has quietly become the constant Suns need to succeed D'Antoni's assessment was spot on because Coach Ott has suddenly become the calming presence that the franchise needs right now. Owner Mat Ishbia talked a big game about continuity over the offseason, only to surprise everybody by trading for Miles Bridges and shaking up their core. Ishbia himself recently lost a lot of money off the basketball court, which will always remind fans of the Robert Sarver era for all the wrong reasons. With a different coach at the helm, these hectic developments could be far more worrisome. With the Suns hoping to make it back to the postseason, they are banking on Ott taking another step forward in his own personal development. You can count D'Antoni as a fan, as Ott looks like the long-term solution for the franchise. There is no telling how far this group can go, but with Ott calling the shots, don't count the Suns out anytime soon. Keep an eye on the Suns as they look to build off of last season's surprising 45-win campaign.