Suns Set the Record Straight on Tom Izzo Rumors

The Phoenix Suns said they didn't actually want to hire Tom Izzo.

Apr 22, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Michigan State head basketball coach Tom Izzo watches during the first half of the game between the Detroit Pistons and the Orlando Magic during game two of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

PHOENIX — It wasn't long ago when Michigan State Spartans basketball coach Tom Izzo hopped on a podcast and casually let the world know the Phoenix Suns considered him for their head coaching search last summer.

"I've had more than a couple job offers in the NBA, looked at one last year with Phoenix – my former player Mat Ishbia. That was hard, that was a hard thing to turn down because No. 1 I kind of wanted to go with him ... we talked seriously about it, let's say that," Izzo said on The Dan Patrick Show earlier this year.

There seemed to have been some confusion on those words, so much so that Ishbia himself was asked about it at the team's end-of-season press conference.

"Coach Izzo, I talk to coaches Izzo about everything all the time. He was not offered a job. I think people misunderstood what he said. But either way, we talk to Coach Izzo all the time, when we're doing a coaching search, asking what we should be looking for, how we think about building a culture," Ishbia said this past week.

"Look, I admire Michigan State basketball, as you guys could probably expect, for 30 years, making the NCAA tournament every year, being consistently great, competing all the time. And coach Izzo is the leader. And so I talk to him all the time. B.G. [Brian Gregory] talks to him all the time. I think he might talk to J.O. [Jordan Ott], our coach, the most. And so I think it's just people misunderstood what he said in a podcast. But we definitely had conversations all the time last summer, and called me yesterday.

"I mean, we talk all the time, and I call him about his team, and we talk about the good stuff about his team and the bad stuff, and we do the same thing with ours. He's a great mentor to me, to B.G., to J.O., to anyone that calls him. And so, yeah, I think it was just a misunderstanding, but coach Izzo is a great guy, and I love him."

Izzo's words didn't quite come off as confusing or left open to be misunderstood, at least in our opinion. Ishbia certainly tried to play it off as such, however.

The good news? Jordan Ott is in fact doing an incredible job by all metrics, opinions and expectations.