The Phoenix Suns have fired head coach Igor Kokoskov after just one season. Add this to a growing list of horrible moves made by the franchise lately.
Seriously? What are the Phoenix Suns thinking? Do they even know?
Rookie NBA head coach Igor Kokoskov has been fired by the Phoenix Suns following a 19-63 season. After James Jones was promoted to full-time general manager earlier this month, fans were expecting – and hoping – for good (and swift) news on Igor.
Maybe a statement saying he was safe and he’d be the guy the team would be rolling out with to start next season.
But no. Instead fans get this.
"Phoenix has fired coach Igor Kokoskov, league sources tell ESPN."
And this.
"Suns had planned to bring Kokoskov back for a second season, especially after the team’s stronger play in late stages of the season. Kokoskov has been a well-respected tactician who becomes another victim of the constant turnover in Phoenix."
Really? I mean the first part makes sense. The team shouldn’t have just planned on bringing him back for a second season. They should have followed through with it.
The team played a lot better towards the end of the season. Igor is well-respected. He won a championship as an international head coach.
It’s not his fault he wasn’t given anything close to a real point guard or power forward all season.
That’s James Jones’ job. Can him.
Wait, he was just promoted while Igor was just fired. Yeah, that’s fair.
Not.
The closest thing Kokoskov got to a solid point guard or power forward all year was Tyler Johnson and Dragan Bender, who he actually used to turn this roster into a competitive team and pull out some shocking and impressive wins.
Before Johnson got hurt the team went on a 5-3 stretch, including wins over the Milwaukee Bucks and Golden State Warriors.
This isn’t to say that there weren’t issues with effort and defensive lapses as there definitely were. This isn’t to say that Igor did not make mistakes as he definitely did.
But, he was a rookie head coach in this league with an incomplete roster and definitely didn’t get a fair deal.
The franchise has continued to show staggering levels of incompetence and this latest move in firing Igor goes along those same lines.
You think Devin Booker is happy that who ever the Suns bring in as their next head coach will be his fifth in as many seasons?
Admittedly, Kokoskov didn’t seem to truly earn the respect of the locker room as the lead voice that a head coach should be. He didn’t seem to be as tentative to the roster’s needs as one would like either. Often his in-game adjustments left much to be desired as well.
And so Sarver and Jones needed a fall guy. They needed to get rid of someone and that, unfortunately, ended up being Kokoskov.
It’s sad because he never really had a chance to begin with. The team drafted Deandre Ayton instead of Luka Doncic, who he’d won a ‘ship with overseas.
That’s not to say Ayton wasn’t the right choice for the franchise, but obviously Doncic would have been the better and proven choice to pair with Kokoskov.
Maybe Igor will get a call to be an assistant coach on the Dallas Mavericks and be reunited with Luka.
Maybe he’ll go back to the Utah Jazz and be reunited with Quin Snyder.
Whatever the case, I wish him the best of luck and hope that he gets another chance at being a head coach in this league later on down the line and that when that happens it will turn out much better than it did here.
Farewell, Igor, and Good Luck – but the Suns screwed you on this one.