Few individuals associated with the Phoenix Suns have come in for more criticism in recent seasons than the owner Mat Ishbia himself.
His decisions to trade for Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal having backfired badly, with Durant clearly still not over being made a scapegoat for the team's shortcomings.
Ishbia has been spot on about Suns' defensive surge
Prior to the season getting underway, Ishbia took to social media to bite back at Bill Simmons of The Ringer, who at the time claimed the Suns would be the worst defensive team in the league.
.@BillSimmons, you and your crew have some good takes and some that are terrible. You’re the betting guru and even you know better than to actually take this bet. Tell you what, go put your money on this take. When you lose, I will donate the same amount to charity of your… https://t.co/dCLMUdtbMz
— Mat Ishbia (@Mishbia15) October 22, 2025
Ishbia was mocked loudly at the time, because there wasn't supposed to be any way that they could get stops while relying heavily on Dillon Brooks, a never fit Mark Williams and some guy called Collin Gillespie.
In the early goings of the campaign that looked like it might prove to be true. Williams missed all of preseason while it took Gillespie a little bit of time to become the breakout star in The Valley he has become.
We don't need to talk about how vital Brooks has been, although not trading him straight up for Austin Reaves is perhaps a level even we didn't think he could reach. Certainly not so soon after joining.
But all of those pieces came together beautifully, with the front office also finding gems in Jordan Goodwin and Jamaree Bouyea.
All of this has seen the Suns sit 10th in defensive rating (112.9) on the season so far, and that has included huge wins over both the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder.
That stingy defense, coupled with the misfortune for the Denver Nuggets of Nikola Jokic missing about a month through injury, is going to be how this group makes the playoffs proper.
Ishbia has every right to feel smug right now, because his decisions that looked like homer moves in bringing in guys with Michigan State ties in head coach Jordan Ott and General Manager Brian Gregory has also paid off handsomely.
To get to the turn of the year and not be ridiculed for the Durant trade is another win, and further proof that Ishbia was correct in making that bold call at the time.
Their schedule does get harder with a pair of six game road trips before the season ends, but there's no way this team drops below even league average in defensive rating.
They play too hard each night and have made it their identity, a fact Ishbia was aware of behind closed doors before everybody else caught up. Talk about redemption.