List Of Phoenix Suns Head Coaches
The Phoenix Suns franchise has had 20 head coaches. John MacLeod is the franchise's all-time leader in coaching years and games won, winning the most regular-season and playoff games. Cotton Fitzsimmons, Mike D'Antoni and Monty Williams are the only coaches to have won the NBA Coach of the Year Award with the Suns. The Suns never have been coached by a Basketball Hall of Fame inductee. Paul Westphal has the highest all-time winning percentage with the Suns with a .685 percentage. Alvin Gentry was named head coach after Terry Porter was dismissed by the Suns after 51 games in 2008. Gentry left the Phoenix Suns under mutual agreement to part ways on January 18, 2013. He was replaced by Lindsey Hunter halfway through the 2012–13 NBA season. He has since been replaced by former Suns player Jeff Hornacek. Hired in 2018, Serbian coach Igor Kokoškov became the first head coach born and raised outside of North America to be hired as a head coach in NBA history. Former Pelicans coach Monty Williams was hired as head coach on May 3, 2019 and served until May 13, 2023. On June 6, 2023, the Suns hired Frank Vogel as head coach.
Key
GC | Games coached |
W | Wins |
L | Losses |
Win% | Winning percentage |
# | Number of coaches |
* | Spent entire NBA head coaching career with the Suns |
Coaches
Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2023–24 season.
# | Name | Term | GC | W | L | Win% | GC | W | L | Win% | Achievements | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||
1 | Johnny Kerr | 1968–1969 | 120 | 31 | 89 | .258 | — | — | — | — | ||
2 | Jerry Colangelo* | 1970 | 44 | 24 | 20 | .545 | 7 | 3 | 4 | .429 | ||
3 | Cotton Fitzsimmons | 1970–1972 | 164 | 97 | 67 | .591 | — | — | — | — | ||
4 | Butch van Breda Kolff | 1972 | 7 | 3 | 4 | .429 | — | — | — | — | ||
— | Jerry Colangelo* | 1972–1973 | 75 | 35 | 40 | .467 | — | — | — | — | ||
5 | John MacLeod | 1973–1987 | 1122 | 579 | 543 | .516 | 81 | 37 | 44 | .457 | ||
6 | Dick Van Arsdale* | 1987 | 26 | 14 | 12 | .538 | — | — | — | — | ||
7 | John Wetzel* | 1987–1988 | 82 | 28 | 54 | .341 | — | — | — | — | ||
— | Cotton Fitzsimmons | 1988–1992 | 328 | 217 | 111 | .662 | 40 | 21 | 19 | .525 | NBA Coach of the Year (1988–89) | |
8 | Paul Westphal | 1992–1996 | 279 | 191 | 88 | .685 | 44 | 25 | 19 | .568 | ||
— | Cotton Fitzsimmons | 1996 | 57 | 27 | 30 | .474 | 4 | 1 | 3 | .250 | ||
9 | Danny Ainge* | 1996–1999 | 226 | 136 | 90 | .602 | 12 | 3 | 9 | .250 | ||
10 | Scott Skiles | 1999–2002 | 195 | 116 | 79 | .595 | 13 | 5 | 8 | .385 | ||
11 | Frank Johnson* | 2002–2003 | 134 | 63 | 71 | .470 | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | ||
12 | Mike D'Antoni | 2003–2008 | 389 | 253 | 136 | .650 | 51 | 26 | 25 | .510 | NBA Coach of the Year (2004–05) | |
13 | Terry Porter | 2008–2009 | 51 | 28 | 23 | .549 | — | — | — | — | ||
14 | Alvin Gentry | 2009–2013 | 261 | 158 | 144 | .523 | 16 | 10 | 6 | .625 | ||
15 | Lindsey Hunter* | 2013 | 41 | 12 | 29 | .293 | — | — | — | — | ||
16 | Jeff Hornacek | 2013–2016 | 213 | 101 | 112 | .474 | — | — | — | — | ||
17 | Earl Watson* | 2016–2017 | 118 | 33 | 85 | .280 | — | — | — | — | ||
18 | Jay Triano | 2017–2018 | 79 | 21 | 58 | .266 | — | — | — | — | ||
19 | Igor Kokoškov* | 2018–2019 | 82 | 19 | 63 | .232 | — | — | — | — | ||
20 | Monty Williams | 2019–2023 | 309 | 194 | 115 | .628 | 46 | 27 | 19 | .587 | NBA Coach of the Year (2021–22) | |
21 | Frank Vogel | 2023–2024 | 82 | 49 | 33 | .598 | 4 | 0 | 4 | .000 | ||
22 | Mike Budenholzer | 2024–present | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |