The Suns were among the teams to make a coaching change this offseason, replacing Monty Williams with Frank Vogel earlier this month. Vogel and the team have been quickly working to assemble his coaching staff, with Phoenix issuing a press release on Wednesday to make several new hires official.
The only returning assistant coach is Kevin Young, who was a finalist for Phoenix’s head coaching job and ultimately stuck with the Suns after they made him the highest-paid assistant in the league.
The new additions, some of which were previously reported, are as follows:
- David Fizdale, the former head coach of the Grizzlies and Knicks who was an assistant under Vogel with the Lakers in 2021/22. Fizdale was an associate GM with the Jazz this past season.
- Quinton Crawford, who was an assistant with the Mavericks this past season and spent three years under Vogel with the Lakers from 2019-22, winning a title in 2020.
- Miles Simon, a former Arizona star who was an assistant with the Lakers for four seasons prior to becoming the head coach of the South Bay Lakers, the team’s G League affiliate, the past two seasons.
- Greg St. Jean, another former assistant with the Lakers under Vogel who went to Dallas with Jason Kidd in ’21/22.
- John Lucas III, a former NBA point guard who was an assistant under Vogel in ’21/22.
- Dru Anthrop, who had been head video coordinator and a member of the Lakers’ staff since ’19/20.
- Jon Pastorek, a former Lakers player development coach and advance scout.
The Suns enter ’23/24 with the goal of winning their first championship, having agreed to a trade that will bring Bradley Beal to Phoenix after landing Kevin Durant in February.
Lucas is the only decent coach out of them all. Fizdale lol what a joke
Cool squad
Lots of leaders
Weird how 4 guys decided to leave LA for Phoenix. Makes one wonder what kind of work environment a Lakers job comes with. Maybe there’s zero confidence in Darvin Ham’s ability to manage games and the team as a whole. Maybe it’s because LeBron is a humongous pain in the ass. Who knows?
A little of it all.
Remember when teams had a head coach and maybe 2 assistants?
It’s amazing how a lot of these coaches in nba are families of former coaches, executives, etc. it’s all about networking…. They keep it in the family.