Who's The Greatest Coach In Phoenix Suns History?

In this series, we’ll take a look at the illustrious list of head coaches in each NBA franchise’s history. To make a case for ‘greatest coach,’ we’ll look at win-loss record, player development, and (most importantly) team accomplishments under that coach’s tutelage.

At their best, the Phoenix Suns have been a scorching-hot force that burned the opposition in the NBA.

Since 1968, a multitude of exceptional players have flocked to the Arizona desert in search of blazing glory. To these players’ credit, they’ve given the Phoenix fanbase plenty of memorable moments in the regular season as well as the playoffs.

Of course, the Suns wouldn’t have risen had it not been for the brilliant tacticians who’ve lent their expertise for the better part of six decades. On more than one occasion, the Suns' head coach pulled off the massive feat of ending a playoff drought in Phoenix.

From 1973 to 1987, the Suns were under the tutelage of John MacLeod. Formerly affiliated with the University of Oklahoma, MacLeod led the team to nine playoff appearances (including eight consecutive playoff trips). In 1976, MacLeod was coaching the likes of Alvan Adams and Paul Westphal (not to mention a young Pat Riley) in the NBA Finals against John Havlicek’s Boston Celtics.

Only three coaches in Suns history have won Coach of the Year honors. One of them was Mike D’Antoni, who bagged the award in 2005. It wasn’t only because the Suns squad coached by D’Antoni rose to the status of a playoff powerhouse. More importantly, the “7 Seconds or Less” offense orchestrated by D’Antoni (and run to perfection by players like Steve Nash and Amar’e Stoudemire) sparked a revolution that changed NBA offenses forever.

Among the Suns’ Coach of the Year awardees, only one can say that he won this accolade and led the team to the Finals. That man is none other than Monty Williams, who ended a 28-year Finals drought in 2021. To get to the Finals, Williams mastered a formula that relied on the stellar shooting of Devin Booker, the playmaking of Chris Paul, and the interior presence of Deandre Ayton.

How many head coaches can say that they won 500 regular season games for a single franchise? MacLeod can lay claim to that distinction, and he has a Finals appearance to beef up his résumé as well. For these reasons, MacLeod gets the nod as the greatest Suns coach ever.