Knicks: Phoenix Suns Executive Defends Jeff Hornacek’s Tenure
A Phoenix Suns executive defended Jeff Hornacek’s tenure, all but excusing him from the blame for the team’s implosion. That’s an encouraging development for the New York Knicks.
When news first broke of the New York Knicks’ intention to hire Jeff Hornacek, detractors quickly found Wikipedia. It was there that most discovered a statistic that could be used to downplay the quality of the potential hiring: .474.
For those unfamiliar, .474 is the win percentage that Hornacek accumulated during his 213 games as head coach of the Phoenix Suns.
That number has divided a community of Knicks fans who are understandably uncertain of what to make of Hornacek’s hiring. Those who have come to his defense have pleaded with detractors to look beyond the numbers.
Mark West, the Suns’ Director of Player Relations, told Marc Berman of The New York Post that Hornacek is one of the the last people to blame for Phoenix’s implosion.
"“There were circumstances around him that caused us to not meet expectations more than his style of coaching or ability to coach,’’ West told The Post.“If you look at a thin slice of the pie and not the whole body of work, Phil Jackson is smarter than that,’’ West added. “I’m sure he didn’t judge it over Jeff’s career in basketball. He was in a tough spot. It unraveled. We won 48 games his first year, lost some of those players that helped achieve those goals, and it went the other way.”"
That sentiment has been echoed by many around the NBA.
Hornacek inherited a Suns team that went 25-57 in 2012-13, thus finishing with the worst record in the NBA. There were some solid roster changes, including the addition of combo guard Eric Bledsoe, but Phoenix was all but unanimously projected to struggled again in 2013-14.
Instead, Hornacek led an immediate turnaround, taking Phoenix to a record of 48-34 in the hyper-competitive Western Conference during his first season with the team.
That 23-win improvement was magnified in its impressive nature due to the fact that Bledsoe, the key offseason acquisition, missed 39 games due to injury.
The star of that 2013-14 Suns team was Goran Dragic; a journeyman who made the All-NBA Third Team under Hornacek’s reign. Despite Dragic’s remarkable success, the Suns re-signed Bledsoe—expected—and signed Isaiah Thomas—unexpected—later that summer.
In other words, as Dragic entered his contract year, Phoenix signed two star-caliber players at the same position as he—a contractual slap to the face.
The Suns’ smooth ascension turned into a turbulent ride through a brutal Western Conference. Yet, Hornacek still had Phoenix holding onto the No. 8 seed when everything began to hit the fan.
Phoenix traded Dragic to the Miami Heat, dealt Thomas to the Boston Celtics, and returned Brandon Knight, who played in just 11 games for the Suns in 2014-15.
Thus, while some will point to the 39-43 record as an indictment, it was more of an achievement that Hornacek saved Phoenix from a full-on implosion.
A year later, an accumulation of straws broke the camel’s back.
The 2015-16 team couldn’t handle the constant stream of gaffs by the front office. Phoenix went all-in on LaMarcus Aldridge in free agency, going as far as signing an otherwise unfitting Tyson Chandler to a long-term deal.
Phoenix, of course, failed to sign Aldridge.
The Suns were now left with an embattled power forward, Markieff Morris, who’d just seen his twin brother, Marcus Morris, traded to the Detroit Pistons. If that weren’t enough, Morris watched Phoenix publicly pursue a star free agent at his position—an understandable pursuit, but one with obvious repercussions.
Rather than immediately trading Morris, who very clearly hurt team chemistry, owner Robert Sarver publicly berated the, “Millennial culture,” and made Phoenix sit and suffer.
In other words, rather than dealing Morris for players who could help the Suns win—and Morris had quite the market at that point in the season—Sarver decided to be petty.
Once again, the failings of the front office crippled the team.
It was a ridiculous three-year period during which Phoenix simultaneously overachieved, rebuilt, and blew itself up. While ownership and the front office were clearly to blame, it was the head coach who paid the price.
Thus, while there’s no guaranteeing that Hornacek will be successful in New York, using his Suns tenure against him is a misguided path to follow.
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If anything, Hornacek should be praised for keeping the Suns together for as long as he did.