Suns at a green-and-white crossroads as coaching search nears end

The Suns wear purple and orange. They’re turning green and white. They are an NBA franchise run through the Spartyfy app, where anything you can do, a Michigan State alum can do it better.

Now we’re at a real crossroads.

The Suns have whittled their extensive head coaching search down to two candidates. Predictably and alarmingly, the unknown from Michigan State (Jordan Ott) has survived every cut.

The other candidate seems far more qualified. Johnnie Bryant is the associate coach in Cleveland, lavishly praised for developing a strong relationship with Donovan Mitchell. If you were going to pair up a young head coach to grow and build around Devin Booker, he’s exactly the kind of guy you might choose.

Except he’s not a Spartan.

Maybe the choice is just as obvious to owner Mat Ishbia. Maybe he’s relishing a moment to troll the national media, some of whom have been especially unkind in recent months. Maybe he’s bringing Ott to the finish line just to give a fellow Spartan some really good exposure. Maybe he knows that Bryant is clearly the guy and is going to use the cliffhanger suspense to prove that contrary to public opinion he isn’t always going to choose the guy from Michigan State. That he really isn’t trying to recreate his glory days from college.

And yet the mind wanders to the end-of-season press conference, when Ishbia made a bold promise.

“You can talk about the Pittsburgh Steelers,” he said. “You kind of know what they mean when you talk about the Pittsburgh Steelers. Or even my old team, Michigan State basketball. What is Phoenix Suns basketball? That’s on me. That’s a change that’s coming, and it’s undeniable.”

Undeniable? Like a Spartan owner, a Spartan GM, and a Spartan head coach? What else could spur Ishbia to make such a promise or use such a word?

To be fair, there are far worse basketball programs to emulate than Michigan State, an annual power under the legendary Tom Izzo. And Ott has built a solid reputation through four different NBA gigs, which came after he served five years as Michigan State’s video coordinator. He’s a better candidate than the narrative suggests.

But the perception will be damning. Diehards on Planet Orange will lose their minds. The national media will continue to roll its eyes, which is even worse than the criticism.

It’s one thing to model a collegiate program after a professional franchise. Ray Anderson and Herm Edwards tried to make it work at Arizona State, only to fail spectacularly. Bill Belichick is trying the same at North Carolina and is off to a rocky start.

But attempting a collegiate model in the NBA? That will invite mockery and is all but guaranteed to fail.

After all, the NBA is a league of stars. A league of men. A league where you better know what you’re doing. And in Phoenix, the collective inexperience from ownership to GM to new head coach will be green enough.

Reach Bickley at dbickley@arizonasports.com. Listen to Bickley & Marotta mornings from 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. on Arizona Sports.

Follow @danbickley