The Phoenix Suns are the latest to part ways with their head coach just barely two weeks after the end of the regular season.
Despite the team's extremely poor showing this season, the firing of Igor Kokoskov still came as a shock for most. This includes former Suns head coach Earl Watson, who took to Twitter to share his surprise with the seemingly abrupt decision made by the Phoenix organization:
Watson's one-word reaction may be a bit cryptic, but it is clear that it was pertaining to the firing of Kokoskov.
Watson, who himself held the head coaching position for Phoenix for more than two seasons prior to his sudden termination just three games into the 2017-18 season, was one of the many who did not see Kokoskov's firing coming.
The Suns obviously had a bad year — tied for the second-worst record in the entire league, to be exact — but we all knew this was going to be the case entering the season. The team was in the midst of a rebuild, and nobody really expected them to be competitive this year.
The belief was that Kokoskov was the man who would see out the transition period for the Suns as they continue to build their roster from the ground up. However, with his recent departure, it is clear that the front office has decided to go in another direction.
This was Kokoskov's first season as an NBA head coach following nearly two decades of being an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Clippers, Detroit Pistons, Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Utah Jazz.