PHOENIX — Mike Budenholzer does not come across as a man who enjoys the spotlight, but Friday he had no choice. He recognized the significance of the story — an Arizona native coming home to coach the Phoenix Suns — and he did his best to capture the moment, his moment, nearly running out of words to describe it.
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During his introductory news conference, Budenholzer at different times called this opportunity exciting, “freaking” exciting and “beyond” exciting. He called it crazy, surreal and mind-blowing. He said he would coach this team if it were based on the moon (travel would be expensive), in Alaska (winters not ideal) or in Denmark (an odd place to end this sequence).
“I would go anywhere to coach this team,” Budenholzer said. “I’m excited about the roster. I’m excited about everything.”
If fans experienced déjà vu watching Friday’s news conference, they were not alone. Just 346 days ago, Frank Vogel sat in the same seat, in the same building and expressed similar thoughts. After the Suns won 49 games and were swept in the postseason’s first round, Vogel was fired a few weeks shy of his anniversary date. Not much later, the Suns hired Budenholzer, the organization’s third coach in as many seasons.*
(*Three coaches in three seasons sounds dysfunctional, but it really isn’t. Not by NBA standards. Since 2000, 21 of 30 teams have had stretches of three coaches in three years. Six have had two such stretches. With the hire of Budenholzer, Phoenix has had three. Turnover is constant in this league.)
General manager James Jones said Phoenix decided to fire Vogel because the Suns had stretches where they failed to play up to their potential. With a talented core in Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, they had underperformed, needing a late-season rally to avoid the postseason Play-In Tournament. “By and large, we just felt the timing to shift was right,” Jones said.
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BuyThe Suns targeted Budenholzer, and Budenholzer pursued the Suns. The two had several conversations. The first was about fit, the rest dived deeper into the team’s issues. Budenholzer talked during the interview about the importance of competing. Every day. In practice. Against each other. Against yourself.
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“Our job is to constantly make it better,” CEO Josh Bartelstein said when asked about having three coaches in three seasons. “If you find a better fit to coach this team, you do it.”
At 54, Budenholzer has spent half his life in the league. When he started as a young assistant on Gregg Popovich’s staff in San Antonio, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone and Patrick Ewing were still among the league’s scoring leaders. With the Spurs, he helped win four championships. As head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, he helped win another.
Even so, this will be a challenge. With Booker, Durant and Beal locked in for $150 million next season, the Suns don’t have much financial flexibility. Improving the roster will not be easy. That’s why so much recent attention has focused on maximizing the “Big Three.” It’s Phoenix’s best hope.
This was a popular topic at Friday’s news conference — how Budenholzer planned to make Phoenix’s best players accountable.* After taking the Milwaukee job in 2018, Budenholzer ate breakfast and had a productive talk with stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton. Budenholzer said Friday that he had talked with Booker, Durant and Beal, as well as several others. He described those conversations as honest and super-healthy but didn’t go into specifics.
(*For the record, this “accountability” talk makes some roll their eyes. As he traveled to Indianapolis to work Game 6 of the New York Knicks–Indiana Pacers Eastern Conference playoffs series, former NBA coach P.J. Carlesimo told The Athletic “accountability” is what people fall back on whenever a coach gets fired. As in, the coach wasn’t hard enough on his players. “People always react from the outside and they don’t know anything about what they’re talking about,” Carlesimo said. “It’s about getting guys to play together and play well. Guys that are as good as KD and Book and Bradley, they want to win and want to be pushed. That’s not going to be an issue.”)
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In addition to Antetokounmpo and Middleton, Budenholzer has coached Tim Duncan, David Robinson and Tony Parker. In his experience, Budenholzer said star players are seldom content. They want to improve. His job is to help them get there.
“We have some great players in Devin, Kevin and Brad,” he said. “They are big time. I think they know that I’m going to have high expectations of them. I’m going to coach ’em. I’m going to hold them accountable — but that’s what I’m going to do with everybody. It’s not any different. That’s kind of been my roadmap for coaching, whether it’s the best players or the entire roster.”
Over 20 minutes, Budenholzer got emotional. His voice cracked when he discussed the past year off and how much he enjoyed spending time with his children. He purposely avoided saying much about his dad, 94-year-old Vince Budenholzer, a former Arizona high school coach seated in the front row. “The original Coach Bud,” Budenholzer said.
He promised nothing. While he understands the expectations, Budenholzer said talking about championships is meaningless. All the Suns can control is how they go about their pursuit. It’s the only path he knows.
“At the end of the day, we want to be competitors. We want to compete, compete, compete. That is our calling card,” Budenholzer said. “We want to be a team that plays unselfish. We want to be a team that stays together. And lastly we want to be a team — and players — that are getting better every day. If we focus on what we’re doing each day, that’s what’s going to give us our best chance to realize our potential, to be a championship-level team.”
GO DEEPER
What Mike Budenholzer brings to the Suns: Ex-players on Phoenix's 'bulldog' new coach
(Photo of Suns GM James Jones and new coach Mike Budenholzer: Joe Camporeale / USA Today)
