Phoenix Suns Hiring Jordan Ott Is A Risk Regardless of Michigan State Ties

Phoenix Suns Hiring Jordan Ott Is A Risk Regardless of Michigan State Ties

[Music] To paraphrase Alanis Morset, you ought to know why he’s here. Get that stuff out of here. It’s Southwest Bias. [Music] Welcome in to another edition of Southwest Bias live from Studio K and brought to you by our friends at Branded Bills. Use that promo code BBPHNX to send save 10% off your first order of hats and apparel. And yeah, we got news 45 minutes or so ago from Sham Shirania of ESPN that Jordan is the new head coach of your Phoenix Suns. And I got to tell you, I’ve seen the outrage. I’ve seen the anger. I’m sure we’ll see it in the comments. I think I’ve gone through the stages of grief with this Sun’s team and in particular with the failures of the last few years. I’ve been angry. I’ve bargained. I’ve done all sorts of things in those five stages. And I think I’ve reached acceptance. And I think that’s why I’m not angry about this. And if you are, so be it. But to me, it reminds me of my daughter. She’s obsessed with blind bag toys, right? Those things where you see what you might get. there’s all these choices and then in the end you don’t really know, right? And to me, that’s how assistant coaches getting elevated to NBA head coaches are where you look at it and you don’t know what you’re going to get. You see a list of things that they’re good at and we’ll get into that with Jordan Knot later in the program. You have kind of an idea of who they’ve coached for and what the success those guys have seen previously, but you do not have any idea how they’re going to be as a head coach. Are they the next Phil Jackson? Are they the next Earl Watson? You don’t know. You know, I remember when Earl Watson got hired here in Phoenix for the first time as an interim head coach and all everybody said was, “He’s the hottest upand cominging assistant coach in the NBA.” We saw how that worked out. Yoga and uh and good vibes doesn’t exactly win you basketball games. We don’t know what Jordan’s going to be able to do as the head coach of the Phoenix Suns. We also didn’t know what Johnny Bryant could have done as the head coach of the Phoenix Suns. What I do know is the last two years they hired Frank Vogle and Mike Benhoer. Guys that you felt like you knew what they could do with the Phoenix Suns and they even failed. The last two years have been miserable. Team with no culture. Disconnected basketball. How do we know that Jordan not can’t be the guy that actually builds that culture? I get it. You’re all concerned that he went to Michigan State University for his master’s degree. But why does that immediately scrub any other other qualification that he has as a coach? This isn’t Brian Gregory. And I understood the frustration there because he had no real experience in the NBA or in a front office. But Jordan’s been coaching since for years now. Since 2013, Jordan has been part of NBA franchises. Jordan Knaut has worked his way up. Jord was a finalist for the Charlotte Hornets job last year. I do not understand why we’re willing to just write him off as a fan base because he has MSNU as a college he went to. Oh, by the way, to get a master’s degree in sports. He worked in a video room there. He didn’t he wasn’t there when when Matt Ishpia was there. They’re not buddies. I hate this. I hate this Brian Gregory’s is frat bro and oh it’s it’s just a good old boys club. No, they didn’t even know each other in, you know, in terms of being at Michigan State at the same time. You can we can get into discussions about should you model your team after a college basketball team and I think there’s valid discussions, but Jordan Odd should not be written off. His experience wasn’t all that vastly different than Johnny Bryant’s, right? He coached since 2013. He was a video coordinator, assistant coach uh with the Brooklyn Nets and lasted through three different coaches there. Three different coaches saw the value in him to retain him on coaching staffs, including Kenny Atinson, Jock Vaughn. Oh, and one Steve Nash, who reportedly had nothing but great things to say about Jordan Knot when asked by the Suns organization while they were trying to do background. I get it. You’re pissed. And fine, you can be pissed. You don’t have to like my opinion on this. But I think everybody that’s sitting there just writing him off simply because he got a master’s degree at the same college as Matt Ishpia is doing a disservice to themselves and doing a disservice to this guy who just got the job for the next four years because guess what? Whether you like it or not, he’s the Sun’s head coach. And a lot of you were banging down the door for a rebuild and a retool and a different way to look at this. Well, guess what? You’ve gotten exactly that. The Suns have got hired a firsttime head coach, something you do when you’re reassessing what your current goals are and planning for the long term. You’re going to trade Kevin Durant before the draft. Guess what? That’s a sign of a retool and a rebuild like people wanted. Guess what? One of Jordan’s strengths is player development, offensive creativity, all these things that you’ve been clamoring for. But you can’t get past the fact that he got his master’s degree at Michigan State. We don’t know what Johnny Bryant will be as a head coach. We don’t know what Jordan will be as a head coach. But I refuse to just sit here and write him off simply because of that. Like I said, I understand and understood the frustration with Brian Gregory, especially after the press conference, but Jordan Au has the prerequisite experience to be a head coach in this league. Other people have looked at him and considered hiring him for that head position. I do not have this massive problem with it because in the end, the only thing that will matter. The only thing that will make Suns fans not angry in general is winning. And if Jordan not finds a way to inspire whatever rag tag group they have on this roster in this initial stage of this rebuild and retool, then everybody will love them at that point. Nobody will care about the Michigan State stuff. Guess what? Nick fans until yesterday didn’t hate James Dolan the last four years because of the moves he made and they were winning. People forget about that when their team’s good. And the only reason I think we’re all stuck in this right now is because some of us are in different phases of the stages of grief, mourning the fact that a team that went to the finals was broken up and a team with finals expectations never lived up to it. And I’m fine with being in the acceptance stage at this point and in a wait and see mentality. And if you want to be in the anger or the bargaining stage or you want to claim you’re no longer a Suns fan, that’s your prerogative. But I’m not writing somebody off just because they went to Michigan State. But you know what, Shane? Maybe I should hedge my bet. What do you think? Can we Can we hedge my bet a little bit here? I think it’s time for me to do something drastic just in case this media thing doesn’t work out. Okay. Do Do you have that? Can we pull it up? I I think I might have to do something where I need to protect myself just in case. Give me one second. Maybe I need to join the Jordan as the Brian Gregories of the world. Maybe I need to join the Matt Ishbas of the world. Maybe, just maybe, I need to go to Michigan State myself and get myself a degree in media. But maybe that’s just my Southwest bias. Welcome in to the third day of live Southwest Bias here and it’s great to have some breaking news on this fine Wednesday and really really excited to be adding a guest, our first guest, our inaugural guest on this program that’ll be joining us shortly. It’ll be NBA insider Mark Stein to give us the national perspective and give us some inside insight into how this hiring process, the 15 candidates and everything that went into it went down. Shane, it’s a pretty good national median salary. I mean, it is if you if you get it get a job after you uh get the certificate. This looks pretty good. I mean I mean if if it can get me a job, maybe I do it, right? Aside from even if the Suns thing doesn’t work out like I mean going going to Michigan State it’s nice up there. I’ve always said you know being a Spartan great and wearing green and white is my colors. Look I’m kidding and I get it. That’s that’s going to be the the narrative locally and nationally. And guess what? It didn’t matter what the Suns did this off season. Shane uh and everybody watching. Uh it didn’t matter what they did this off season. They were going to be a laughing stock until they proved it on the court. So, the national media was going to hate it regardless, right? There’s no way to thread this needle. You’re trading going to trade an all-time great. You fired your third coach in as many years. You’re giving Devin Booker his eighth coach in 11 seasons. Like, the these things are not going to go well for you in terms of perception. It’s just not. So, I I get it. You can be angry, but I just don’t I don’t see the point in it because nobody was going to be happy with the way this went because they weren’t happy with the way the last two years went. Do you think any Do you think any higher could have could have made them happy? Like aside from the finalists, Phil Jackson. No. I mean, no. I What I Who I mean, maybe genuinely, I don’t I don’t think so because maybe Tyoo, but Tyoo was never an option. like there was none of the guys on the list were going to make anybody happy except Chris Quinn and you know what I’ve been down the bring Miami’s mentality into this team and it didn’t work. James Jones was the head of that snake and it it didn’t play out to me. You know, people wanted Miami’s culture here, right? But then want to rip on Matt Ishpia for maybe bringing in a Michigan State culture. We’re not talking about ASU basketball. We’re not talking about Nevada basketball. We’re talking about Michigan State who has been a prominent program. That’s where my problem is. Yeah. I I I just think that the way the last two last three coaches have gone like you you have you have your culture setter, you have your proven success guys, you have your championship rings and that hasn’t worked. So if you go down that route again, it’s not going to work. So you have to go the opposite way. And when you go the complete opposite way than what people are used to, people aren’t going to be happy either. Well, I mean everybody take yourselves back a year ago. Everybody was through the roof about Mike Benhenhoer. Thought we were at that press conference together. We both felt it. Everybody thought this is it. They’re winning a title. They fixed it. Even Al McCoy, God rest his soul, looked at everybody and and said that this felt like it was special. Guess what? You were 10 games under 500. It didn’t matter that he had a ring at home that he kept in a safety deposit box. It didn’t work. So, you course correct. And I just I that I’m not I’m not going to hop on the bandwagon. I I’ll light the torches when it’s appropriate. If they screw up this Kevin Durant trade, I’ll be the first one down there yelling at Brian Gregory’s office and Matt Ishbia, right? But right now, I’m not This team was going to catch grief regardless of how this went. And their list of finalists wasn’t going to excite anybody. There just wasn’t. Yeah. I It again, you had to you had to zag. You had to go a completely different direction with this. And and as you said at the top of the show, when you’re rebuilding, it also goes with the coach as well. Like you have to you have to change the culture there too. And you go young, you go with a communicator, you go uh with somebody you believe in, right? And so be it. I mean, they went through this. Gambo reported that uh that the candidates in this uh throughout this process had nothing but glowing things to say about the questions that Brian Gregory asked and said they were some of the most thorough and thoughtful questions they’ve gone through in coaching interviews. You know, like I get it. You don’t like the results. What do you think about that? I think it I I think it’s realistic. He’s he was a head coach. Who’s going to ask better head coaching questions than a guy that did it? No, I I get that. I’m not saying anybody’s lying. I’m just saying what like does that matter? Well, I think it it says that you were asking the right questions. Oh, and the biggest thing I I buried the lead here. According to Sham Shirania, Devin Booker loved this this he was in alignment with this that I used it. I should have to pay money anytime I use that word, but Devin Booker was was behind this, right? He was he was in step with these guys and agreed he was the best candidate. Do you want to hate on Deon Booker now, too? Guess where he’s from? Michigan, too. Like, you want to hate a state, hate Utah. I don’t know why we’re hating Michigan right now. I mean, Detroit sucks, but the rest of it, I hear, is beautiful. Like, so that’s I kind of like Detroit when I was there. I I I’ve never actually been, so it’s it’s distant hate. Uh, when we come back, I told you NBA insider Mark Stein is going to join us. We’re going to get the inside look at how this all went down right after this. Our friends at Circle K want you to join the inner circle. Jordan not doesn’t need to save money now. He’s got a four-year deal, but the rest of us do. And you can download the Circle K app today and become a member of the inner circle and you’re going to save money on gas. And let me tell you, those first five fillups, you’re saving 25 cents per gallon. That is big. Then you’re going to save 3 cents per gallon. And then you hit the expo level, you get 5 cents off at that point. Plus, they do fuel days where you can save like 40 cents off gas per gallon as well. Unbelievable. But that’s not all. 79 cents Polar Pops. 99 cent frosters. Three for five Gatorade and Gatorade Light. I don’t know what Gatorade Light is, but you know, you can get that, too. It’s like it’s like a um Pedial Light. No for that’s what it is. All right. Well, good to know. So, you want to become part of the inner circle today? Download that Circle K app. Enter your information. Terms and conditions apply at participating locations. Visit circlek.com for details. And you know what? Everybody on Twitter today wants to throw shade at the Phoenix Suns. But if you want to throw shade in your backyard, our friends at AllPro Shade Concepts has you covered. I worked with them and I was skeptical because I’ve I have a giant uh sliding glass door that sun the sun was just beating in through it, right? and has for a decade. Never could find a solution. They came out, gave me a free estimate, showed me all the materials that they were going to use. And I was sold. I said, “Right then and there, let’s do this.” They came out, installation was the easiest installation I’ve gone through in my house for anything. They were clean, quick, and they were fantastic to deal with. I want you to have this as well because we know even though we had a reprieve uh the other day because of the rain, it is going to get squeltering hot. The seat is going to be hotter than what Mad HP is feeling right now from all the hate from everybody and you want to get it taken care of. So call 623204-1476 or visit allproshadeconcepts.com to schedule your free estimate. And I told you before the break that we were going to have one of the best in the business, NBA insider Mark Stein uh from the Stein line and DLLS joining us. Mark is coming in right now. And Mark, how are you my friend? I am good sir. I am good. I wanted to tweet that I was on but sorry too many things are happening. So I’m not I wasn’t able to do that before we started. So my apologies. That that is perfectly fine. You never have to apologize to me. We appreciate your time. Jordan not new sons head coach. Uh a lot of skepticism due to his Michigan State ties. What did you hear about this process and how they uh kind of whittleled it down to Jordan? Well, it’s interesting. I have to say, as you know, I believe I was the first to report that Brian Gregory was going to be elevated to the top of the Sun’s front office hierarchy. And on Sunday, the same person who told me that Brian Gregory was going to get the Sun’s front office job told me that Jordan not was going to win this race. And there have been so many twists and turns in this search that even hearing that from such a smart preient source who was right on about Gregory, I couldn’t confirm it with a second source, so I couldn’t go with it, but I certainly bought it, believed it, and that’s the way it’s played out. And look, Jordan is a very well- reggarded coach. He’s been with, I believe, four different franchises already. Steve Nash, who, you know, is someone that I hold in very high regard and someone whose career I covered very closely. Steve worked with Jordan not in Brooklyn and has always regarded him very well. I had another source describe him as very reminiscent of Taylor Jenkins, which I think is also high praise because I think Taylor Jenkins did a tremendous job in Memphis and established himself as a very good coach who’s going to get another head coaching job in this league someday. But there’s nothing I can pass along from talking to people in the league that I’m sure is going to change your opinion or assuage the concerns of PHNX listeners and Suns fans who are furious that can’t who who I’m guessing cannot believe that yet another person with Michigan State ties the guy who wins the race here. But that is exactly the way it’s played out. And let’s just say I look forward to the press conference. I hope Matt Isp is at the press conference when they introduce Jordan not as the next coach because that that will that how many how many questions will include the words Michigan and state in them at that press conference? I think everyone look I I was I was just saying Mark I I actually don’t have a huge problem on this. I I understood more the concern about Brian Gregory because of his lack of experience, but Jordan not as a guy that’s been, you know, around the NBA on staffs since 2013, was a finalist for that Charlotte job last year. I think there has been some unfair approach, not that I should expect anything different from the internet, but an unfair approach towards him and his experience as if he just came out of the video coordinator room at MSU and now is the head coach of the Phoenix Suns. Yeah, look, Jordan not is a well- reggarded coach. There’s there’s no doubt about it. But the natural questions that will come out of this beyond look question number 1 2 3 5 7 9 11 like you said, do you only hire people who have Michigan State ties? I mean that is a question that the Suns are going to have to answer. The other thing here is that you know Johnny Bryant I believe is the associate head coach in Cleveland. He’s the number one assistant there. So, you hired a coach who was actually lower in the Cavaliers own pecking order than Jordan Kn. But again, I’m not I’m with you. You know, Jordan Kn is kind of innocent in this situation. He applied for the job. He wanted the job. It’s a chance to coach to be a head coach in the NBA. What is he supposed to do? Not take it because some people are going to be mad about his background? No. That would be ridiculous. this is the chance of a lifetime for him to be a head coach. And like I said, there are no shortage of coaches in this league who I trust, who I’ve asked for their read on him, and they all speak of him very highly. But, you know, the process was certainly weird. You know, they they interviewed more than 15 coaches in round one and then when they narrowed it down the first time, it was like eight or nine and then what was thought to be the final round actually included still five coaches plus David Fizzdale was still part of the process to some degree. So there were really six before they got to what actually became the finals of them narrowing it down to Jordan not and Johnny Bryant. So, one thing I will say about Ishbia though, he always does press conferences. He does take our questions. You know, that’s more than you can say for a lot of teams in this league right now. So, I would assume that when Jordan not is introduced that we’re going to get both Brian Gregory and Matt Ishbia at the deis. I hope that’s the case because again Matt Ishpia has shown a willingness to answer all these questions. You know, last Saturday was, you know, I was I first reported that Devin Booker was involved in the later stages of this search with the inperson, you know, the the five I’m going to try to remember them all and you know, my memory, you know, I’m getting old, so my memory isn’t as good. the the the five coaches who advanced to what actually were not the finals, but what was build as the finals. Dallas’s Sean Sweeney, Miami’s Chris Quinn, both Jordan Knot and Johnny Bryant from Cleveland. They all went to Phoenix for face-to-face interviews. Devin Booker spoke to all of those candidates when they were in Phoenix. Over the weekend, I reported that Brian Gregory actually went to OKC to meet with Dave Bliss, who’s still coaching in the playoffs. Oklahoma City’s Dave Bliss. I don’t know this for a fact, but I do not believe that Devin Booker was on the trip to actually go to Oklahoma City and meet with Dave Bliss. I I do not have that confirmed, but it’s just my working assumption that Devin Booker didn’t travel. But Devin Booker was involved in the process for the last fiveish candidates. It’s been reported today by ESPN that Jordan not has Deon Booker’s seal of approval. If that’s the case, that’s obviously a good sign. You know, Steve Nash giving him a strong recommendation, that’s obviously a good sign. But like I said, I am eagerly awaiting the introductory press conference. There’s a belief uh from some online uh that this was not a thorough process. I I I feel like after going through that uh it seems like they were very thorough in trying to figure out where they wanted to end up even if they may have had an idea of uh people that they liked towards the end. Well, the look, it was thorough. I mean, you don’t interview more than 15 candidates and and claim it’s not thorough, but I think the issue here is that again, and and Jordan not is just going to get dragged into this unfairly. This is not on him whatsoever. But another question I imagine that the Suns are going to have to answer is did you just do this whole process knowing you wanted to hire Jordan not the whole time? And did you run through 15 plus candidates to put on this elaborate show and then just hire the guy you wanted all along? I think that’s a fair question. I don’t know what the Sun’s answer is going to be. Again, I am eager to hear it. Uh, did Johnny Bryant uh and the Knicks news yesterday have uh have any impact on this final decision? I know there were some rumors that he might be a candidate in New York, but I I don’t believe so. I know that was a natural thing to circulate yesterday in the wake of of Tom Tibido’s dismissal. The Knicks like Johnny Bryant, he had a pretty prominent role on a Tom Tibido staff there already. But when the Knicks in the statement we’ve received from Leon Rose explaining the decision by the Knicks to go away from the most successful coach they’ve had in the 21st century. You heard Leon Rose say, “We are singularly focused on winning a championship.” Something that hasn’t happened in New York since the early 70s. That’s a tough position to put a firsttime head coach. Maybe Johnny Bryant is on high on their list. Maybe he’s going to be considered for this Knicks opening. But is a firsttime coach the answer when you’re I mean the Knicks have basically made it. This is championship or bust. The Suns are not in a championship or bust position. the Suns are in a position I’m not even sure I have the the words to fully describe it. Um so I I really don’t think they were related and certainly with the Suns choosing Jordan not it’s kind of a moot point at this point when uh you know when this dust settles the the last or the biggest question remaining for the Suns is the Kevin Durant situation. Have you heard anything new on that front or we pretty much sounds like they’re going to make a move but we don’t know exactly how that’s going to shake out at this point? Yeah, I had this in my Sunday night story that as part of the search there definitely was messaging that emerged that that yes, the Suns are not expecting to retain Kevin Durant. And I think coaches who were involved in the process came away with the feeling that Durant is not going to be on this team when training camp convenes in late September, early October. And look, the difference, you know, we’ve talked about this before. In February, the Suns unilaterally explored Kevin Durant trade options. And it took Kevin Durant going to them and saying, “Guys, I don’t want to be traded in season. Don’t trade me. let’s finish this season out for those talks to kind of be halted. This time it’s going to be done in collaboration with Kevin Durant. I think it’s been a, you know, working knowledge around the league that the Suns and Kevin Durant’s representative, business manager Rich Kimman, his longtime business manager, they’re going to try to figure this thing out together. But I yeah, I would say the expectation around the league is that there is going to be some sort of Kevin Durant trade. It’s much harder to forecast Giannis Antidmpo’s future at this point because we don’t have clarity. Does Giannis actually want out? Does Giannis want to stay? We are waiting for that clarity to this point. And it’s it’s you know it’s frequently been suggested in recent days that the Durant situation might might underline might have to wait for that kind of clarity. But if you’re predicting a future Hall of Famer to be traded this off season, it’s a much safer bet I think at this point to start that list with Durant. Do do you get the feeling that if either one of those are moved that you’d probably see something around the draft just because it’s going to have to involve draft capital to to get something done. I trul I mean I think that’s an assumption but I can’t I can’t tell you that for sure. I wish I knew. I wish I had it nailed to that degree, but still got to the Durant Durant’s future, like you said, and Bradley Beals for that matter. Those will now be the focus between now and the draft for the Suns. They’ve done their coaching search. They’ve got their new GM. They’ve got their new coach. I’m going to say one more time, PHNX, send the send the plane. send the private PHNX plane to get me out there for the press conference. I would love to be there, but on once once that is done, it is it is time to focus on on roster. Mark, it’s only an 18-hour drive to Dallas. I I’ll be there uh shortly. We’ll get back here in time for the press conference. I highly recommend that you all go subscribe to the Stein Line on Substack. Great NBA Finals coverage, all of the rumors and news and interesting things going on in the NBA from Mark and Jake Fischer over there. It is one of my favorite subscribes. You need to go do it. You can also check out Mark on DLS. Mark, thank you for the time, my friend. Sounds good. We will do it again soon. All right, that was Mark Stein, NBA insider with the great insight there. Uh Shane, I want to play a game uh that you helped me put together here. Not really a game, but you know, you ought to know. These are things that you need to know about Jordan. These are facts that we found out there uh in terms of his coaching style, different things. We’ve talked a lot about opinion. I just want to give you some facts here. So, let’s uh start with the first one here. Shane, he got his master’s degree from Michigan State. Who Who would have guessed that? Who would have guess? I did not I I’m sorry, but I did not realize that. This is breaking news here to PHNX. Uh Jordan got his master’s degree from Michigan State, but you know what? Uh to give you a little more insight into it. It’s not that he just got it. He actually got it in athletic administration. So something that actually applies here and was the video coordinator there as well. Let’s go to the next fact. One you might actually know. He’s strong in player development and that is a big part of what he did in Brooklyn, what he’s done uh in all of his stops, including with the Lakers and with Cleveland this year. So, as the Suns transition into that next phase, this is something that they were looking for and he’s good at it. So, let’s take a look at the next fact here. Uh he is an offensive and defensive uh creator. He he’s creative when it comes to both the philosophies on that. And I feel like the last two coaches, Vogle was strong on defense. Obviously, uh you know, Ben Hoer was supposedly strong on offense. This is a guy that kind of rides both waves. He can do both things with this team’s going to need to get back uh to, you know, prominence here or at least, you know, respectability in terms of the encore product. Uh, toughness is a key principle for him. He’s a guy that believes in playing hard, going out there. The And this is one that aligns. Yeah, there we go. Another dollar in the jar with exactly what Matt Ishpia and Brian Gregory were saying that they wanted. So, this one is not a surprise to me, but this is a hallmark of what he does. And then he’s a strong communicator with staff and players. And this one to me is a big thing because Mike Boonhoer and Frank Vogle uh from what I’ve heard from inside uh at that place, they were both pretty bad in terms of what they were capable of doing in and communicating with the staff and those players. And that is going to be so important as you try to rebuild this and define a culture. What did everybody love about Monty Williams? his ability to communicate with his players and create a culture. And I feel like they’re trying to hit a reset here to find a guy that can help do that. And like we heard from Mark, Devin Booker was involved. Deon Booker did give his stamp of approval on a and it starts there. If those two can have a quality relationship, that will go a long way to defining that culture and setting up that locker room. We saw it with Kyler my Jonathan Ganon on the Cardinals side where they from day one had a good relationship and it paid dividends uh as they’ve grown together. And uh let’s take a look at the next one here as well. Shane, uh he adjusts to new coaching trends is what uh we’ve heard in terms of it. So no longer are you with a head coach like the last two guys who are stuck in their ways. Adjustments, in-game adjustments. Those are important things that this team has not had over the last few years. Now hopefully he will in terms of uh with Jordan on this coaching staff is this uh this is my favorite one and this is true. I am not making this up in any way, shape or form. Jordan A is married to somebody who now is named Jordan Aunt. She took his last name when they got married and they both have the same name and that is just flatout weird to me. I when I was writing this down at the start of the show, I didn’t like You thought I was saying he was married to himself? No, I didn’t compute that his name was Jordan not. And I just like I just wrote down, okay, Jordan. And then I when I pulled this up, I’m like, oh my god, did I make a typo? Did I just write his name again? I didn’t realize what you were saying. My my favorite thing is if you go to the coaching association’s website, it says he’s married to his wife, Jordan. Like they had to put the qualifier so you understood that they weren’t saying he was married to himself. Uh I think this is again people are going to hate this and I want to address that he’s married to himself. No. Well, yeah. Well, they’d hate that too mostly because that’d be very strange. Uh but I want to take a take a look at what some of the people are saying in the chat because there is some uh anger. We’ll we’ll say that I mean there is some anger. But I want to first off I want to address and we don’t have to put these up. I want to address a few people who have said in there that they miss the disgraced former owner. You are insane if you actually legitimately feel that way. You do not remember the decade of trash we went through. And I can tell you from the inside, anybody saying, “Oh, he wasn’t a guy that meddled.” He meddled in every aspect of that organization. Postgame, he’d go in coach’s locker in the coach’s office and tell them how they should have coached. At one point, he tried to show DeAndre Eaton how to box out. If you have a problem with Matt Ishpia and you want the disgraced former owner back, I think you just have a problem. And I am sorry that I’m saying that directly to a couple people in the chat, but that is just factually true. Uh, and Killer Rex says uh that you know, oh, has an owner of a new Do you not remember that Robert Sarver had a championship team? I just broke my own rule. I just said his actual name on my program. No. Uh, do you do you remember the disgraced former owner actually nuked his team on multiple times not resigning uh Joe Johnson, trading Kurt Thomas for uh for and first multiple first round picks for a freaking second round picks? Do you remember he he traded away guys on draft night for cash considerations that could have helped? Do not tell me that you want to go back in time. And if you do, I’ll go fire up the Delorean and you can live there by yourself because I I crawled through that 500 yards of crap. I see the light now in terms of not having to deal with that and I don’t ever want to go back to that person. And that’s not even talking about the off the court issues. I don’t care about finals appearances in that. All right. And you’re talking about a guy that had the team for 18 years comparing him to a guy who has him for two years. I I don’t want to hear that. So, you can just stop that. Uh, and I I’ll agree with Jim. He says, “If you’re going to miss any owner, make it Kangelo.” And Jerry Kangelo had his own flaws, but I agree there. If you’re going to miss an owner, miss Jerry Kangelo. If you miss the disgraced former owner of the Phoenix Suns, you you got problems. Or you’re his sons in my chat right now. I’ll say that much for it. Or him. Or him. I mean, he has a he has a bill multi-billion dollar golden parachute to sit around and do anything. Uh Norman Dre in the chat says, “I’m curious to see the numbers behind as four-year deal. Did he take a low uh ball offer due to numerous head coaches still on the payroll?” My guess is no, because Monty Williams money ain’t on the books anymore. Uh so, you’re paying two. I I don’t think so. I think, you know, a guy that was willing to light $400 million uh on a team that finished 10 games under 500 probably isn’t going to sit there uh and quibble over a a few, you know, $100,000 in terms of paying a coach. So, uh I look, we’re going to find out what this team looks like. And I I get that there are a lot of people in here like Eric that says this franchise is a joke, but they so hard I but they try so hard to be a joke. That’s the funny part. Again, do you remember where this organization was? If you think hiring a couple guys who went to Michigan State make you look like a clown show, I I got 10 years worth of documentation I’d like to show you. I got a report that the NBA put together that I’d like to show you. You don’t have to agree with the methodology, but we don’t even know how it’s going to work. And I’m going to say this, uh, I think that the guy that is now a consultant, who I imagine will no longer be with the franchise when his contract runs out in June, James Jones, was making a heck of a lot more of the decisions than anybody wants to say. And this is a distinct pivot away from that uh that approach. And could it blow up in their faces? Sure. Johnny Bryant could have blown up in their faces. The last two head coaches that were uh, you know, prominent names in the NBA blew up in their faces. If you continued to go down the same path you went down the last two years, you were going to get that same result. And I don’t think that’s anything anybody wanted. This is a different approach. And I’m going to wait and see uh to this. So, you know, no owner is trying to lose. And Matt Ishpia is not trying to lose. Nobody wait nobody spends $400 million to lose $400 million. All right. That’s that’s the reality of it. Okay. Uh and Psycho Blue had the super chat, the $10 super chat. He said, “I just want Aught and Breg, Brian Gregory as we call him in the Discord, B-reg, to roll out a roster and system that makes us the most hated team to play against because they kick the other guys best players in the nuts.” That’s the true Sparty way. Look, I I think and I know some of that’s a joke, Psycho Blue, but I I think the hard-nosed effort, if you come out with a system that does that, if you come out and they try every night, if you come out and they work hard, that’s where I want to see the foundation start. I don’t want Devin Booker out there with a bunch of guys that have no desire to be on that court, show no heart, and show no hustle. I’ve watched Phoenix Suns basketball for 35 years and last year’s effort was one of the most difficult to watch ever and I got paid to do it. I don’t know how some of you fans watched and sat through that and more power to you if you watched all 82 because that was not easy to go through. And I had multiple fans that I’ve talked to that have followed this team for their life and they said they had to stop watching midway through because it was that painful. I want to see the exact opposite. I do not want to see the same anymore. And I’m glad that they’re at least pivoting. Does it work out? I don’t know. Do you have a crystal ball? If you do, give me the damn lottery numbers because I’d like to make that 400 million that Matt Ishb has spent, you know. So, I look, I’m not I’m not defending anybody and calling him a saint. All I’m saying is simply I I need to see more to to understand like I I’ll tell you more of my opinion after I hear Jordan not talk, right? Because none of us have even heard him talk yet. And I said that about Brian Gregory. And then I came back after hearing Brian Gregory talk and I gave you my honest opinion on him. And then I said I was concerned based on what I heard because that is that was not an introductory press conference that gave you any confidence. If Jordan not comes out like that, I’ll give you the same same take. I’ll be honest with you. All I do here is I’m going to be honest with you with my opinion. You can be honest with yours and we don’t have to agree. I mean, that’s that’s just the reality of it. And you know, you can be wrong, I can be right, and that’s fine. Uh any other any other uh chats in there that we should uh look at, Shane, before we get out of here? No, I think we’re good. Well, that is another edition of Southwest Buyers brought to you by our friends at Branded Bills. A big thank you to the mustache behind the Mac, Shane Defbach, who uh puts all this together, even when your entire rundown gets thrown out in the last second because your NBA team decides to hire a head coach. Big thank you to Mark Stein. Follow him at the Stein Line on social to get all of the latest and best out there about the NBA news. And thank you to you for being here for the live show today and this whole week so far. We would not be able to do anything without you. Hit me up on social. I want to hear what your thoughts are. I’ll throw out the voicemail bag as well, so you can text or call there. Also, become a diehard. You want to talk to more fans, you want a group therapy session, become a diehard, go to gophnx today. Sign up and you’re going to get access to that exclusive Discord who loses their mind a little as well. Uh so that is Southwest Bias for a Wednesday. Remember, just because your head coach went to Michigan State doesn’t mean he’ll suck. Aoy [Music] hoy silly like the mayor.

The Phoenix Suns have hired a coach! Former Cleveland Cavaliers Assistant coach Jordan Ott is the new head coach for Devin Booker and for now Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and the rest of the Suns. What’s next? Marc Stein of DLLS Sports and DLLS Mavericks joins the show to discuss!

0:00 – Intro
2:00 – The Suns hire Jordan Ott
5:00 – Espo is not lighting the torches yet
17:20 – Marc Stein Joins

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