Reports: Suns Coach Had 'Contentious Relationship' With Key Players

PHOENIX -- Just one day after the 2024-25 season concluded, the Phoenix Suns made the swift decision to fire coach Mike Budenholzer after they finished 10 games below .500 and missed the playoffs in his first year despite having the highest payroll in NBA history.

The Suns released a telling statement about dismissing the Arizona native Budenholzer, who they will owe $10 million per year to over the next four years if he doesn't land another coaching gig:

"Competing at the highest level remains our goal, and we failed to meet expectations this season," the statement read. "Our fans deserve better. Change is needed," the team said.

The Suns' season was a disaster all around, and some reports about incidents and feelings of players to Budenholzer have come to light.

NBA insider Chris Haynes told a story about a disagreement between Bradley Beal and Budenholzer early in the season.

"One thing that I can can point to was (Budenholzer's) communication and how he conveyed his message," Haynes said on The Haynes Briefs Show about Budenholzer's firing.

"League sources told me earlier in the season, Coach Budenholzer met with Bradley Beal. He told Bradley Beal he wanted him to be the Jrue Holiday of this team. Holiday is a player who might become a Hall of Famer, but you got understand, when you're talking to a guy of Bradley Beal's caliber, it wasn't well received.

"You know the type of player Bradley Beal is. You know how he's made a name for himself, in this league playing his way, and to ask him to shift his game, alter it, and to say Jrue Holiday on top of that, somebody who Coach Budenholzer has won a championship with in Milwaukee. It wasn't well received, the way it was explained to me."

Arizona Sports' John Gambadoro added onto this story, posting on X that Beal told Budenholzer "Don't ever disrespect me like that. Don't ever tell me to play like another player."

On the Haynes Briefs Show, inside the Phoenix Suns’ turmoil and incidents that led to Mike Budenholzer losing the team and ultimately his job. Also a list of coaching candidates Suns are expected to look at. Subscribe. #haynesbriefs

Full EP: https://t.co/yDUTC9FDQt pic.twitter.com/Ryzz7OlDKT
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) April 14, 2025

The Athletic's Doug Haller, Sam Amick and Fred Katz chronicled more issues of Budenholzer's relationship with the locker room, focusing more on Devin Booker and Kevin Durant.

"More specifically, his contentious relationship with four-time All-Star and franchise centerpiece Devin Booker, as well as several other key players, was seen internally as a major issue," they wrote in a story.

They added later: "Budenholzer has a reputation for holding players accountable. During training camp, he often said that 'talk is cheap,' emphasizing the Suns had to prove everything on the court. They started fast, winning eight of nine to begin the season, but the momentum and vibe fizzled. Booker said the Suns skipped important culture-building steps, failing to learn from each win and loss. He called the rest of the season 'a slow bleed out' to elimination."

A lot of buzz between Booker and Budenholzer happened midway through the season after a report from Haynes, as The Athletic story highlighted:

"In February, Chris Haynes reported that Budenholzer called Booker into an office and told the star guard he was being too vocal on the court and during timeouts. The coach asked Booker to tone it down, which Booker found shocking, a league source confirmed to The Athletic. Budenholzer and Booker downplayed the report and said their relationship was solid, but neither denied that the meeting took place.

"On March 4, early in a comeback win over the LA Clippers, Budenholzer grabbed Durant’s left arm as Durant walked to the bench during a timeout. Durant angrily yanked it away. Durant later said anyone questioning the incident didn’t understand the dynamics of his relationship with Budenholzer. He saw it as two competitors trying to get things right on the basketball court, but the optics were suboptimal.

"Throughout the struggles, Budenholzer didn’t help himself. The emotion and appreciation Budenholzer had shown at his introductory news conference never resurfaced. He was standoffish with media members. His pregame sessions with reporters were among the league’s shortest. Unlike previous head coaches, Budenholzer didn’t do pregame interviews with the Suns radio team.

"As losses mounted, fans grew tired of Budenholzer’s bland postgame comments that often began with crediting the opponent and ended with, 'We got to be better.' They were not alone.

"After a home February loss to New Orleans, Booker pinpointed the team’s struggles on skipping details and taking a 'get ‘em next time' mentality.

“'At some point, you’ve got to draw a line,' Booker said, 'and it should’ve been drawn a long time ago.'"

Lining up with the timeline of these comments by Booker,The Arizona Republic's Duane Rankin reported Monday that "Sources informed Arizona Republic rumblings about Mike Budenholzer's future in Phoenix really took flight after the loss to New Orleans, on Feb. 27, at home."

The writing had been on the wall for Budenholzer for a long time as the Suns season slipped away, and they wasted no time moving on as soon as it ended.

This is just the first change of many the Suns will likely make this offseason.