Phoenix Suns former coach adds to the Luka draft decision fire

Former Phoenix Suns coach, Igor Kokoskov, dishes on his role in the Luka Doncic-Deandre Ayton draft decision.

Ryan McDonnough made headlines when he indirectly pointed every finger (and toe) on his body at Phoenix Suns owner, Robert Sarver, as to who was responsible for making the decision to draft Deandre Ayton over Luka Doncic in 2018.

Add former Suns head coach, Igor Kokoskov, to the list of disgruntled ex-employees who are both bitter and absolve themselves of responsibility of that draft selection.

Phoenix Suns ex-coach, Igor Kokoskov, dishes on Luka/Ayton pick.

When asked about whether he wanted Luka instead of Ayton while speaking to Eurohoops, he said:

"“I don’t think it’s a fair question because we have to support each other in terms of… It’s easy right now from this perspective… blame for somebody else. I was there. I coached Luka on the Slovenian national team. I think that the decision was predetermined before I got there. Again, I don’t think it’s fair for me to blame and point the finger at somebody else, but I really sleep well every night. I have peaceful dreams, no problem with my conscience.”"

The way I translate this, he wanted Doncic and expressed this opinion on the subject, but it fell on Sarver’s deaf ears who was going to pick Ayton no matter what anyone suggested. Now, after being fired after only one season, he doesn’t feel the least bit bad about where Sarver’s decision’s pit the Suns; without a generational superstar.

Deandre Ayton, when speaking about new coach Monty Williams, said last season there wasn’t much player accountability. This appeared to be a direct shot at Kokoskov, so there was likely much more going on that led to his firing than not drafting Doncic, but there is no doubt the team’s win total would have been a little higher than 19.

Kokoskov, after spending this season as an assistant with the Sacramento Kings, is now the head coach of Fenerbahce Beko, which hails out of Instanbul, Turkey, where he would likely dream of having a player of Ayton’s ability.