PHOENIX – Suns president of basketball operations and general manager James Jones addressed the team’s firing of coach Monty Williams at new coach Frank Vogel’s introductory press conference Tuesday afternoon at Footprint Center.
“A hard decision had to be made about, ‘Where do we go next?’” Jones said. “And moving forward, I just felt we needed an injection of a different voice, different energy.”
Majority owner Mat Ishbia added his perspective on Ishbia's firing in a radio interview with Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Tuesday afternoon.
“After the season, James and I regrouped over what happened and what we felt we could do better,” Ishbia said. “And the decision was, ‘Monty Williams is a great coach. He’s done a lot of great things for our organization.' But it was time to make a change and look for the guy that was going to take us to the next level, the championship level. The place that we’re going to go and we want to stay for as long as we possibly can and hopefully, for years and years.”
Phoenix hired Vogel, who last coached with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2021-22. Vogel won an NBA championship with the Lakers in 2019-20 and appears to be a coach the Suns wanted.
“We set out a few years ago to become a franchise that many would call elite, and we’ve taken some steps toward our goal of winning a championship,” Jones said. “But as we look forward, we needed another leader, someone that could elevate us to the next level. And through this process, after talking to many great candidates, many amazing coaches, we settled on the guy who we think has all the qualities: leadership, honesty, integrity, championship experience, a love for the game, a passion for the community.”
Vogel said he has embraced the challenge of winning the team’s first-ever championship. When asked by a reporter about it, he responded, “Hell yeah.”
ClutchPoints will have more stories about Vogel’s hiring.
The new Suns’ coach said he is yet to “lock in” roles for his assistant coaches. The Suns retained their associate head coach under Monty Williams’ staff, Kevin Young, and reportedly made him the highest-paid assistant in the NBA.
Phoenix also reportedly hired David Fizdale, who coached with Vogel in Los Angeles in the 2020-21 season. He most recently served as associate general manager with the Utah Jazz.
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