According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, the Phoenix Suns fired Head Coach Jeff Hornacek once the team arrived back at their facilities last night after a 91-78 loss to the Dallas Mavericks, their 19th loss in their last 21 games.
The Phoenix Suns fired coach Jeff Hornacek, league sources tell The Vertical.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) February 1, 2016
The writing was on the wall for Hornacek’s tenure in Phoenix, as some of his lead assistants were fired a few weeks back (never a good sign). Although he is well liked by most players and fans, the organization has hit rock bottom and it had appeared Hornacek had lost control of the situation. It was time for a change.
Hornacek was 101-112 in two and a half seasons as the Suns coach but seemed to lose the magic, momentum and chemistry that made the Suns the surprise team and darling of the NBA in his first season when they won 48 games.
The Suns will interview current assistant coaches to determine who will fill in as interim head coach. Leading candidates figure to be former Phoenix Mercury Head Coach Corey Gaines and former NBA player Earl Watson.
Some potential head coaching candidates the Suns may try to bring in to turn around the franchise next season are Tom Thibodeau, Scott Brooks, Luke Walton and most intriguing of all former coach Mike D’Antoni.
The biggest shame of this whole situation is a solid coach such as Jeff Hornacek is gone, but Markieff Morris is still in a Suns uniform.
