The Phoenix Suns have fired their head coach, Jeff Hornacek, after a horrid first half of the 2015-2016 season, a season in which Phoenix was expected to compete for a playoff berth after narrowly missing the post-season last spring.
Hornacek was hired after the 2012-2013 season, and after coaching the Suns to a 48-win season–a 23-win improvement from the year before–became the runner-up to Spurs coach Gregg Popovich in the Coach of the Year award race. The following season, in 2014-2015, despite posting a losing record, the Suns were competitive, and very nearly made the playoffs for the first time since the 2009-2010 season. However, this year, they’ve been abysmal, and have won just 14 of their first 49 games, including just 2 of their last 21, despite the late-season addition of Brandon Knight last year–who’s averaging 20 points and 5 assists per game–and the off-season addition of former Defensive Player of the Year Tyson Chandler.
No word yet on who Phoenix is looking at to replace Hornacek, who is a former Suns player, but whoever is selected will likely immediately begin looking forward to next season. This one is over.
