The Phoenix Suns reportedly have four finalists for their vacant head-coaching position.
Former Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse, former Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers and Sacramento Kings associate head coach Jordi Fernandez made the cut. Phoenix is also reported to have its associate head coach from the last two seasons under Monty Williams, Kevin Young, as a finalist.
Young has been an assistant with the Suns since the 2020-21 season. He was promoted to associate coach after Willie Green, who was a prominent assistant, accepted the head-coaching position for the New Orleans Pelicans.
Young has not won an NBA championship like Nurse and Rivers. But he has one thing the other candidates might not: backing from the Suns' best player, Devin Booker.
Via longtime NBA reporter Marc Stein's Substack:
“It's not yet clear what sort of realistic shot he has to prevail in coaching search that also features three veteran coaches with rings — Nick Nurse, Doc Rivers and Frank Vogel — but league sources say that Suns assistant Kevin Young is a serious candidate for the post in the wake of Monty Williams' dismissal in the desert.
“Word is Young, who has interviewed for the head coaching vacancies in Milwaukee and Toronto, has received a strong endorsement from Suns star Devin Booker.
Booker, who this postseason became the first player since Michael Jordan to record at least 290 pounds through the first eight games of a playoff run, is entering his prime. He is 26 years old and has NBA Finals experience from 2021.
He is ascending into one of the NBA's best players. Booker was also with the franchise during an awful stretch in which it finished at the bottom of the Western Conference three times.
His voice carries weight around the Valley, and it could here.
The Suns' star guard has been very quiet since the team's season ended with a 125-100 loss against the Denver Nuggets in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals two weeks ago. Booker did not speak with the media after the game or in the team's exit interviews.
He posted the following tweet May 15, which may indicate he (who wears No. 1) and forward Kevin Durant (who wears No. 35) are unbothered amid the Suns' season end.
The Suns have three years left on Durant's contract and must maximize a championship team with him and Booker.