GLENDALE – The 2024-2025 Phoenix Suns were a complete disaster, and the details from that trainwreck are slowly coming to light. Reports came out the Summer of 2025 revolving the heated fight between players and coaches. Former Suns forward Kevin Durant put those rumors to bed on social media, but nearly a year later, a former teammate appeared on the “Basketball Sphere” podcast to open up about the dysfunction.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Current Utah Jazz center Jusuf Nurkic, who played in Phoenix for a year and a half, revealed the absurdity of head coach Mike Budenholzer’s system. The 12-year pro highlighted that coach Bud would provoke players all the time and called out an alleged drinking problem.
Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer talks to center Jusuf Nurkic during practice at the Verizon 5G Performance Center in Phoenix on Oct. 1, 2024. Syndication: Arizona Republic
Nurkic blasts Budenholzer for unprofessional behavior:
Nurkic played in only 25 games under Budenholzer before being traded at the NBA trade deadline that season. However, the effect was severely felt by the 31-year-old. In his spat, Nurkic highlighted that Budenholzer would call players into one-on-one meetings just to pick fights, with himself being called a bad teammate. The lack of constructive criticism bugged the big man, leading to his disdain for the head coach.
Apr 13, 2025; Sacramento, California, USA; Phoenix Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer watches the game during the fourth quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-Imagn Images
The moment that still makes Nurkic chuckle is Budenholzer trying to teach Durant, the fifth All-Time leading scorer in league history, how to score. Budenholzer unsurprisingly only last one season in the Valley after going 36-46 and missing the playoffs.
Famously, Budenholzer called out Devin Booker to the media to not speak up during timeouts, which the All-Star stated a coach has never said to him. The former NBA champion coach stated his complaint against Booker to the media, which might back up some of Nurkic’s alleged stories of him provoking his players.
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Reporter Tanner Tortorella covers general assignment for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @TannerTSports
