Vogel assistants add ‘firepower’to staff
Assistant coaches help deal with superstar egos
New Phoenix Suns coach Frank Vogel has the tough task of winning an expected championship right away. But he has two high-profile assistants, David Fizdale and Kevin Young, to help him have a soft landing in the desert.
Vogel coached a Los Angeles Lakers team led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis. He is expected to repeat what he did leading the Lakers to the 2020 NBA title with a Phoenix roster boasting two superstars in Devin Booker and Kevin Durant.
During Vogel’s introductory news conference at Footprint Center on Tuesday, Vogel said his Lakers experience “gave me a Ph.D in the head coach-star player partnership” and “felt like I hit it out of the park with those guys in L.A.”
He had high-profile assistants in current Dallas Mavericks’ coach Jason Kidd and Fizdale on his staff to help deal with superstar egos. That’s partially why it was announced on Monday that Fizdale was joining Vogel’s staff in Phoenix.
Vogel said Fizdale brings his ability to adapt to the evolution of modern NBA’s “new style of play” over the past five to seven years. He added that his top-rated defensive system used when he led the Indiana Pacers to two straight Eastern Conference finals in 2013 and 2014 is what they added to win a championship in their first year together in L.A. That was before the Lakers were eliminated by Phoenix in the 2021 postseason’s first round, and missed last season’s playoffs, which caused Vogel to be fired in April 2022.
“I love the way we changed the scheme and system to come into L.A. and won the championship in Year One, but the league continues to change ever more and more since then,” Vogel said. “So I think that immediate core plan knowledge is something that really draws or makes Fizdale attractive to me, but I got a great chemistry with him, too.”
Fizdale and Young have familiarity in two different ways with Vogel and Phoenix’s general manager James Jones.
Fizdale was a Miami Heat assistant coach while Jones was a player there beginning in 2008, winning back-to-back
titles in 2012 and 2013 and going to four straight finals through 2014. Plus, Fizdale is a former head coach, albeit briefly, for the New York Knicks and Memphis Grizzlies from 2016-17 and 2018-19, respectively.
“His championship pedigree as an assistant coach and the fact that he’s been a head coach in this league is always comforting to have someone like that on your staff that has been through all the decisions that going into managing this position,” Vogel added about Fizdale.
Young brings continuity to Phoenix as Monty Williams’ former right-hand man and top assistant. He was the quasi-offensive coordinator who Williams frequently referenced during media sessions, including the importance of offensive rebounding to extend possessions.
Williams’ four-year résumé in Phoenix includes winning the 2022 NBA Coach of the Year award and leading the Suns to the 2021 NBA finals. He was fired after the Suns were eliminated for the second straight year in a semifinal blowout on their home court. He was hired by the Pistons as head coach soon after.
Young was among the five finalists with Vogel, Doc Rivers, Nick Nurse, and
Sacramento Kings assistant coach Jordi Fernandez who interviewed to be Phoenix’s next head coach. But after news broke that Vogel was chosen last Friday, it was announced on the following day that Young would remain with the team as the league’s highest-paid assistant for a five-year, $10 million deal.
Jones spoke during the news conference about how “critical” it was to keep Young in Phoenix, and had “frank discussions” (no pun intended) about his role under Vogel, the organization’s top choice throughout the interview process.
“He wanted to be here. We wanted him to be here because he’s a great coach and he wants to win,” Jones said about Young. “Given the opportunity to stay here and continue to build with us, it was an easy decision for him and it was an easy decision for us because I know what he truly wants.
“He’s had an opportunity to see us build it and he knows the work left we have to do and he wants to be a part of it. And for me that’s important. The desire to be a part of what we call ‘The hardest part thing we’ll ever do’ is real for him and he wanted to be supportive in every way.”
Vogel followed up Jones’ explanation about Young that he hasn’t finalized the roles for his assistants until he completes his staff. However, Vogel said he understands having empathy for Young is important because they pursued the same coveted job.
Vogel praised Young’s “incredible basketball integrity,” his offensive and defensive acumen, and that the league’s circuits of coaches and executives know Young will be a head coach in the league very soon.
In addition, Vogel mentioned his connection to Young as they were both molded in their pro basketball coaching by their mentor Jim O’Brien. Vogel was an assistant under O’Brien for the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, and Indiana from 2001 to 2011. Young and Jim O’Brien were assistants for Philadelphia during their mutual time there from 2016 to 2019, the second stint for O’Brien with that team.
“It just gave me a great deal of confidence that this is gonna be a partnership that really, really works and we’re gonna have some firepower quite frankly from a standpoint of the coaching staff,” Vogel said.