Basketball is more than a sport. It’s cultural and artistic expression. It’s a swaggy world full of celebrity alphas who are stars of their own brands. They play for teams while employing their own teams. They are judged on their dress, their demeanor and their dominance. They are often too big for coaching and too cool for school.
But sometimes you get an NBA team that lets it all hang out, a team that dares to be different. A team that brags about floor burns and dives for loose balls in the middle of November. A team that exposes the opposition with sincerity and effort while playing for something bigger than themselves.
A team like the Suns, which has led by at least 18 points in each of its past six games. And as Devin Booker said following Tuesday’s road victory over Portland, a team that is rallying around its rookie head coach.
This is a huge development. Jordan Ott is called a basketball savant for his deep understanding of the game and where it’s all heading. But in most fields, the savants who can see deep inside the machinery and far beyond the Xs and Os are not always great with socializing and interpersonal skills.
Ott seems different. Whether it’s drawing up a play during a timeout or designing the first defense to contain Victor Wembanyama in the early days of a new season, he is clearly able to connect. The Suns are 9-6 after 15 games. They rank eighth in the NBA in offensive rating. They rank 11th in the NBA in defensive rating. Those are amazing early benchmarks. But there’s more:
This new regime has kept Mark Williams healthy and vibrant; is producing the best versions of Royce O’Neale and Grayson Allen; apparently won the trust of Booker; and is embracing the calculated combustibility of Dillon Brooks, the player who has changed everything.
Brooks has transformed the Suns overnight, from prey to predator. His smoke, his antics and his highly underrated offensive skills have given the Suns a dangerous and aggressive element they sorely needed. As preposterous as it sounds, he is worth more to this team than Kevin Durant ever could be. He will be handsomely rewarded in the near future, a member of Mat Ishbia’s Suns for many years to come.
Much can change in the next 12 games. The Suns might level down against a steady diet of better teams and a much stiffer degree of competition. But these Suns aren’t the type to back down from a fight, and in the process, they are validating Ishbia’s bold preseason predictions.
The much-maligned owner guaranteed that the Valley would feel proud of the current team. That we’d enjoy watching a team in complete “alignment.” Many skeptics rolled their eyes, but Ishbia remained undaunted. He even challenged Bill Simmons to a bet on social media, insisting the Suns would be far better on defense in 2025-26.
So far, Ishbia has been right about most everything. Which is very reassuring, given his ultimate promise to the state of Arizona, the one that includes championship parades somewhere down the road.
Reach Bickley at dbickley@arizonasports.com. Listen to Bickley & Marotta weekdays from 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. on Arizona Sports 98.7.
