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Marc J. Spears: Legendary former #NBA head coach and executive Bernie Bickerstaff honored by @BCAWORLDWIDE for his influence on the game and his outstanding coaching tree. JB Bickerstaff, Mike Brown, David Fizdale, Phil Handy, JJ Outlaw and others spoke the praises of the NBA pioneer tonight. pic.x.com/A9kXVnjBzg
Legendary former #NBA head coach and executive Bernie Bickerstaff honored by @BCAWORLDWIDE for his influence on the game and his outstanding coaching tree. JB Bickerstaff, Mike Brown, David Fizdale, Phil Handy, JJ Outlaw and others spoke the praises of the NBA pioneer tonight. pic.twitter.com/A9kXVnjBzg
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) July 14, 2025
John Gambadoro: Heard he will likely hire a former Head Coach as a top assistant, but I do not expect that to be Fizdale. Heard Stephen Silas was under consideration.
Devin Booker involved in Suns head coaching search
After firing Mike Budenholzer on April 14 and naming Gregory as the new GM on May 1, the Suns embarked on a comprehensive coaching search. Gregory led a multi-round process that began with over 15 coaching interviews. A group of approximately eight candidates had second-round meetings before five -- Johnnie Bryant, Jordan Ott, Miami's Chris Quinn, Oklahoma City's Dave Bliss and current staff member David Fizdale -- advanced to in-person visits with team officials last week. Suns franchise cornerstone Devin Booker has been involved in the search process over the last seven to 10 days, sources said.
David Fizdale still in the mix for Suns head coaching job, with support of key players
Marc J. Spears: Suns associate head coach and former NBA head coach David Fizdale is expected to be a part of a third round of interviews for the Suns head coach job. The former Grizzlies and Knicks head coach has the support of some key Suns players as well, sources said.
Suns coaching search heats up
The Phoenix Suns are entering the finalist stage of their head coaching search after interviewing more than 15 candidates. They narrowed it down to nine: Cleveland Cavaliers assistants Jordan Ott and Johnnie Bryant, Oklahoma City Thunder assistant Dave Bliss, Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori, Dallas Mavericks assistant Sean Sweeney, Brooklyn Nets assistant Steve Hetzel, Miami Heat assistant Chris Quinn, New Orleans assistant James Borrego and Suns assistant David Fizdale.
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As covered here in depth Sunday, Phoenix has moved onto the second round of its hunt for Mike Budenholzer's successor, with eight candidates from the assistant coaching ranks confirmed by The Stein Line advancing to Round 2: Brooklyn's Steve Hetzel, Cleveland's Johnnie Bryant and Jordan Ott, Dallas' Sean Sweeney, Miami's Chris Quinn, Minnesota's Micah Nori, New Orleans' James Borrego and Budenholzer staff holdover David Fizdale. My old podcast partner Chris Haynes reported Sunday that Oklahoma City's Dave Bliss also still remains under consideration.
Chris Haynes: Number two, Suns assistant coach David Fizdale. David Fizdale has advanced to the second round. Somebody who again, longtime assistant coach. He's had some head coaching stints as well.
Mike Brown, Jared Dudley, Willie Green among candidates to be considered for Suns head coach
Chris Haynes: So sources related to me that these are a list of coaching candidates that are going to be looked at by the Phoenix Suns: Mike Brown – Former head coach of the Sacramento Kings Willie Green – Current Pelicans head coach We’re going to see: is Willie going to stay there in New Orleans? I mean, excuse me—New Orleans just parted ways with the President of Basketball Operations, David Griffin, and so we’re going to see if Willie is going to stay there in place or not. If Willie is going to be outed, Phoenix is definitely going to take a look at Willie. Willie spent some time in Phoenix. Chris Quinn – Miami assistant Johnnie Bryant – Cavaliers assistant Sean Sweeney – Mavericks assistant Jared Dudley – Mavericks assistant (Jared Dudley played in Phoenix, has strong ties to the Phoenix area) Royal Ivey – Rockets assistant David Fizdale – Suns assistant (currently) Kevin Young – Former Suns assistant and BYU head coach So those are some names that I was told that the team will look into and evaluate, and choose who they’re going to bring in for interviews. And so that’s the next phase right now.
For how often Beal gets identified as an aging, injury-prone star, dude is still only 31 years old and moves extremely well on the court. He is using his high-end agility and speed the most this year on the ball defensively, where he has been very good. You can tell when someone is embracing a role, so it was not surprising to hear him say as much after Monday’s win. “I’m very excited about taking on the task of guarding guys,” Beal said. “I just think that’s another level I can tap into. “I had a better feel coming into this season of kind of what my role would be, how the team would utilize me and where I could just see where we had a gaping hole,” Beal added. “Where we can improve at and just putting myself in that position — telling coach, telling [assistant coach David Fizdale] that that’s an assignment I want every night.”
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When the New York Knicks were looking for a new head coach in the summer of 2020, Julius Randle had an idea. The 25-year-old franchise centerpiece started dropping hints to upper management after David Fizdale was fired midseason. By the time the season was over, Randle was letting anyone and everyone in the organization know who he thought would be the perfect fit. “I wanted Finchy to come on staff there. I’m telling them, man, Finchy’s a great coach,” Randle said with a wide smile. “But they had their plans of what they wanted to do. But I was like man, Finchy would be an amazing coach for us. It just didn’t happen.” Finchy was Chris Finch. At the time, he was a highly regarded assistant coach whose name was just starting to circulate as a possible future head coach in the NBA. He was the offensive coordinator in New Orleans during Randle’s lone season with the Pelicans, and the two clicked on a basketball level that Randle never had before or since.
“Julius was a joy to coach,” Finch said. “Really, really enjoyed working with him. Great pro. Loves being in the gym, comes in with a smile on his face every day. He’s hungry for feedback. Really pleasant.” Now the two are reunited in Minnesota, where Finch is the head coach of the Timberwolves and tasked with incorporating Randle’s style of play into the team after a blockbuster trade just before training camp started. At first glance, Randle’s fit with Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert and the rest of a Wolves team that went to the Western Conference finals last season is not seamless.
The Wolves are counting on the trust that was built between Finch and Randle in New Orleans to travel up the Mississippi to Minnesota. If they can pull it off, this is a team that can go as far as it wants to go in the West. The Wolves would not have traded Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks for Randle and Donte DiVincenzo if they thought the deal was going to hurt their chances to contend. Finch’s connection to Randle played a major role in their decision to make such a significant move after planning to run it back. “If anybody knows anything about me, I’m a rhythm player and Finchy does a great job of putting me in spots where I’m catching it in the flow, catching it in rhythm, making my reads simple and just playing,” Randle said. “Not thinking too much, just playing. We view the game in a very unselfish way and I just try to let that be contagious with the rest of the team.”
Phoenix Suns complete new head coach Mike Budenholzer’s coaching staff with the hiring of Schuyler Rimmer. The Suns officially announced Budenholzer’s staff Tuesday — Chad Forcier, David Fizdale, Vince Legarza, Mike Hopkins, Brent Barry, James Posey, Chaisson Allen and Rimmer.
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