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The Phoenix Suns have reportedly fired head coach Frank Vogel after just one season, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reports.
Vogel, 50, led the Suns to a 49-33 regular season record, ranking sixth in the Western Conference, before being swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first-round of the Western Conference Playoffs. Former Milwaukee Bucks head coach and Arizona native Mike Budenholzer will reportedly play a key role in the Suns' coaching search, according to Wojnarowski.
"ESPN Sources: The Phoenix Suns dismissed coach Frank Vogel. The Suns — who won 49 regular-season games with league’s third-highest payroll and tax — were swept in opening-round series to Timberwolves. Mike Budenholzer will be prominent part of search," Wojnarowski wrote on his X account Thursday (May 9).
The Suns now enter a search for their third head coach in the last three seasons, having previously fired Monty Williams last offseason. Williams was the 2021-22 NBA Coach of the Year and led Phoenix to an NBA Finals appearance in 2021, having been rewarded with a multi-year extension in 2022, before being fired after a 45-37 regular season finish and Western Conference semifinals series loss.
Vogel, who had previously won an NBA championship with the Los Angeles Lakers during the pandemic-shortened 2019-2020 season, was the first coaching hire made under owner Mat Ishbia, who took over the team in December 2022.