Former Suns Coach Explains Why Phoenix Failed Last Season

A former Suns assistant from last season's team gave insight into their shortcomings.

Mar 21, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) and Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) look on against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the first half at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images | Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns have done a complete 180 this season after a very unfortunate past couple seasons.

Despite championship expectations, the Suns did not win a single playoff game with Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal alongside Devin Booker over the past two years and missed the playoffs completely with a 36-46 record last season.

New Suns coach Jordan Ott has figured a formula for winning with the Suns sitting at 27-17 so far, which the last two coaching staffs could not find any consistency with.

Former Suns Assistant Airs Out Why Phoenix Struggled Last Season

The Suns really struggled under Arizona native and two-time NBA Coach of the Year Mike Budenholzer in the 2024-25 season even with the star power on their roster.

Brent Barry, a 14-year NBA veteran who was an assistant on Budenholzer's staff, shared some insight into what went wrong for Phoenix.

"The situation there, overall, I would tell you guys being on the inside, was it was a team that just didn't know how to get along," Barry said on the No Dunks Podcast. "They all were cordial towards one another. They all came to practice and were friendly, but it was one of those situations where you're just not invested.

"And obviously the job of a coach or a coaching staff is to, one, get guys prepared to compete at the highest level, but two, to find a way for it all to work out, and unfortunately for the entirety of the staff, I mean, we just didn't find a way to get the team last year in Phoenix with Kevin, Brad and Devin to work together."

Barry explained why he thought things were going to be different after Phoenix moved on to Budenholzer after firing Frank Vogel following the 2023-24 season.

"I thought it was going to be a slingback from what happened with Frank Vogel and the disappointment from the year before," Barry said.

"(I thought) there would be some piss and vinegar in the team, and that these guys would want to show like, 'Hey, we've got the highest salary in the league. We've got to figure this thing out together. Let's use our superpowers to do that. Let's use our superpowers for good.'

"Unfortunately, they used them the other way, and found ways to, like, dismantle that roster, and sadly, they just didn't commit to one another. And this is not like a personal attack on those guys. When you have that kind of separation between your top-end talent ... and then you have this big gap between the rest of the group.

"If clearly those guys don't have a hierarchy, and ... as a player, you're not aware of which of the guys we're leaning on the most, it confuses the rest of the team. I think we had a lot of guys who didn't exactly know what the expectations were."

"This comes back to really good coaching and leadership. You have to define those for a team, and at no point did we do that for the Phoenix Suns last year."

Brent Barry Appreciates Suns' Turnaround

Barry gave kudos to what the Suns front office led by owner Mat Ishbia and new general manager Brian Gregory did with the team in the offseason.

"You could tell as soon as the season was over with what did Phoenix do? They made a lot of changes, which included the coaching staff getting fired," Barry said. "I get that, but what has happened to them ... is they made changes for like, the core of their culture, right?

"Knowing that Devin Booker is a lifetime Sun, bringing in Dillon Brooks, exercising themselves of Kevin and Brad and saying like, 'Look, we'll clearly define who it is that our organization is behind as the leader. Devin Booker is our guy, franchise leading scorer, loves the Valley, all the things.

"'But what was clear was it over two-and-a-half years, that the core of this team did not get along. We have to, we have to find a way to get guys in here who enjoy playing for one another and want to compete.'"

He also respects the job Ott has done with the team in his first season as a head coach.

"Jordan Ott has done an awesome job just making those guys believe in the system that he's put in, and they've had the slingback year happen a year later," Barry said. "That's okay. I'm happy for those guys and what they're doing and surprising the Western Conference."

Barry had never been an assistant before joining the Suns, previously serving as a broadcaster and then an executive in the San Antonio Spurs front office before getting hired by Budenholzer.

"I enjoyed the experience," Barry said. "Like, this is the NBA. It sucks when you're losing ... and as a former player, coaching, I could read the room with those guys, I could see sort of the approach to those guys daily on their practice habits and what they were doing in games, to not be building, to be tearing down what it is that's the opportunity in front of them.

"And as a guy that's been retired for 15 years, to watch all that and have the knowledge of it was such a personally, selfishly fascinating thing to watch it. But to be around that game that way, to travel with the team again, to be on the practice court, to try to help young guys, to watch how good the coaches in the league are, how elevated the talent is in this league, and how fragile it is to operate a franchise, it was a great experience.

"I'm happy I did it, and I'm thrilled for Jordan Ott and Brian Gregory and the recovery the Suns have had this year. They've been really, really fun to watch."

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