Mike Budenholzer Looking to Coach Suns' Stars Hard

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns hope to make good on their championship-level talent currently on the roster.

As time passes and the metaphorical "title window" closes with Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal all getting older - and more expensive - there's certainly pressure to plan a parade here in the Valley sooner rather than later.

Mike Budenholzer - an Arizona native and newly announced coach of the organization - hopes to do just that.

"If our focus is on what we're doing every day, that's what matters most. Talking about championships is kind of meaningless. At the end of the day: talk is cheap. What you do every day is powerful," Budenholzer said at his introductory press conference last week.

"As I talked to our players, I talked to our ownership, our front office, everybody - what are we doing every day to be our best? And that's what's gonna give us our best chance to win championships in Phoenix."

With a star-studded roster, Budenholzer will have some massive ingrediants to cook with success moving into the 2024-25 season.

He doesn't plan on taking it easy with anybody on the roster - especially the top ones.

"I think the great ones want to get better. They’re not content, they’re not happy with where they are, they want to keep getting better. Building a relationship with them, showing that you genuinely care about them, and then I would say coaching them, like coach them hard," Budenholzer said.

“But my experience is you got to coach your best players, you got to coach them hard, you got to demand of them, you got to have high expectations for them. And usually they thrive. That’s part of what makes them great. They actually want to be coached, they want it. And so that’s been my observation. That’s kind of my mentality going into this. We have some great players in Devin and Kevin and Brad. They’re big time, so I think they know that I’m gonna have high expectations of them.

"I’m gonna coach them, I’m gonna hold them accountable. But that’s what I’m gonna do with everybody, and so it’s not any different. That’s kind of been my roadmap for coaching, whether it’s the best players or the entire roster.”