If the Pels Fire Alvin Gentry, the Phoenix Suns should hire him as an Asst.

The manner in which the Phoenix Suns defeated the New Orleans Pelicans on March 16, may have started something that could help them out in the future in a big way.

As the young core of the Phoenix Suns continue to develop and grow, what they need more than just time is leadership.

Young teams are inherently unsuccessful in the short term because they do not know how to win; they do not know what it takes to be  successful on a professional level.

Sure, they have played basketball their entire lives, and for most of them were on highly successful teams – up until they reached the Phoenix Suns. They certainly know what victory feels like, but they are not uniquely capable of bringing that knowledge and executing it on a professional level.

The same can be said for Phoenix Suns Head Coach Igor Kokoskov as well.

Just as much as Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton, and the rest need veterans on the roster who have been in big games, and won them, imparting their wisdom on the eager learners, so too does Igor.

Yes, he had been an Assistant Coach in the NBA for many years.

Yes, he won titles on two teams while as an Assistant.

And yes, he has been the Head Coach of the Slovenian National Team, even winning a EuroBasket title as well.

But I would be hard-pressed to find a single person who would argue that any of those other positions would in any way be comparable to the task that not only is an NBA team, but a very young  one as well.

Of course Igor does have four Assistant Coaches at the moment (Jamelle McMillan, Joe Prunty, Jason Staudt, and Corliss Williamson), but here is the crazy thing: only Prunty has any head coaching experience in the NBA, and that is 37 games. From last year.

(Seriously, think about it: why is literally everybody that Robert Sarver hires at any administrative level have zero experience? Obviously Sarver didn’t hire the Assistants directly as that is usually under the Head Coach’s pervue, but couldn’t Sarver have demanded that an experienced former head coach be hired just to help Igor a little bit?)

This is one of several reasons why bringing Alvin Gentry back as an Assistant Coach (preferably the lead  Assistant) for next season would be an excellent and smart  move for the Phoenix Suns (again, supposing that the Pelicans fire him when this season is out).

Gentry not only has a connection to the franchise, but most importantly, is familiar with – and hopefully comfortable with – owner Robert Sarver.

Phoenix Suns

For a man who has had three head coaching jobs in the NBA to date, returning to the NBA as an Assistant would, in most circumstances, be difficult. Yet by returning to Phoenix, he is coming back to a place where he is very familiar, where he has had the most success as a head coach, and where he is celebrated and well respected among the fanbase.

Most importantly, he was Igor’s head coach for a short time as well. So there is not only a professional relationship there, but a level of mutual respect, and for all anyone has said, a level of friendship as well.

His years of experience as a head coach would provide him with much to impart on Igor, and likely take pressure off of the soon-to-be second year head coach, especially coming off of such a miserable first season.

Their relationship too should open up those lines of communication as Igor should be very comfortable with the knowledge that Gentry would not be coming to Phoenix to undermine Igor and merely wait for the position to become available so he can jump at it, but rather to use his comfort in the Valley to more openly share knowledge and advice.

This has happened with the Suns to a degree in the past as well. In 1999, eight years removed from his last NBA coaching job (he was the head coach for the New York Knicks), Phoenix brought former long-time head coach John MacLead back as an assistant to then head coach Scott Skiles.

Like in MacLeod’s case in 1999, the current roster is competently devoid of any former players of Gentry’s, so Alvin would be walking into a situation that would not present either coach with any issues of a player liking one’s former coach more than their present coach and potentially undermining the entire situation.

No player on the Suns’ roster has played for Gentry, so none would have any reason to use Gentry against Igor.

Finally, Robert Sarver needs to right a wrong by encouraging the re-hiring of Alvin Gentry.

Gentry should have never been fired in the first place as head coach and no one really expected it either when it happened.

Gentry was a good coach, was well-liked and well-respected by the players, and there was no reason that he should have been let go – especially in the wake of the debacle that ensued following: the hiring of Lindsey Hunter and the loss of uber-fan favorite, Dan Majerle, in the process.

While Majerle has publicly made amends with the situation and the franchise, and there is no reason to believe that Gentry holds any particular ill will towards Sarver and the Suns, for a team that has a terrible brand issue at the moment because of it’s owner, bringing a beloved face from the past back into the fold would be another step in the process of rehabilitation.

While Gentry on the bench wouldn’t puts butts in seats or eyeballs on television screens, it would help fans continue to reconcile the losing of the past eight seasons (which ironically began with Gentry at the helm, but by little fault of his own), and look to the future as one ripe with potential and possibility.

Just as the young players need veterans on the roster, so too does Igor Kokoskov need guidance on the bench. Alvin Gentry is the perfect man for the job.