Every coach can use a star who acts as vocal leader to help steer their team in the right direction — except Mike Budenholzer, apparently.
According to NBA insider Chris Haynes, Budenholzer, the Suns’ head coach, met with the four-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA shooting guard Devin Booker and “completely shocked” his star with what he had to say.
“Weeks ago, Mike Budenholzer called [Booker] into his office to issue a complaint,” Haynes said. “That complaint, I’m told, was that Booker was being too vocal on the court and during timeout huddles.”
“[Budenholzer] implored his star guard to tone it down to allow for the coach’s voice to be heard,” Haynes added.
It’s unclear when exactly “weeks ago” was within Phoenix’s schedule, but coming into February, the Suns had won 10 of their last 14 games.
After starting the season 8-1 before then falling to as bad as three games below .500, this 10-of-14 stretch put them right back in the thick of the Western Conference at 25-22.
This solid stretch was just a few weeks ago.
Since February began, though, Phoenix has won just two games and has lost 10 — sitting at 27-32 and 3.5 games back of even making the Western Conference play-in tournament.
So what has gone wrong this month?
Well, Booker ironically cited a lack of communication.
“It could be fixed with just a little bit more talking,” Booker said after Phoenix’s loss to the Pelicans on Thursday. “Things get tough, we get quiet as a team and, from my experience and what I’ve seen, that’s not the way to get through it.”
“I’d rather two people say the wrong thing to each other out there than nobody talk at all,” Booker added. “Any job or any group project you do, you have to do it together.”
Just four years removed from an NBA Finals appearance, the Suns are, for the most part, a completely different team and organization from top to bottom aside from the 10-year veteran Booker.
The latest NBA Big 3 experiment with Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal looks to be going up in flames, and as long as Booker and Budenholzer are butting heads, those flames might never get put out before engulfing the team completely.
