If you’re new around Bright Side of the Sun, welcome. And for those of you who’ve been here a while, you know that the end of May and beginning of June, around Memorial Day and the anniversary of D-Day, is a time when I like to reset my soul. I do that by watching what I believe is the greatest miniseries ever created, HBO’s Band of Brothers.
That’s how I spent my Memorial Day weekend this year. Once again embarking on the journey that reminds us of the horrors of war, the importance of liberty, and
the sacrifices taken to preserve our way of life. There’s something about honoring the efforts the Greatest Generation made to remove evil from the planet and defend our freedoms that brings me back to it every year. It resets me. Every single time.
There’s always something different I take away from it.
Sometimes it’s camaraderie. Sometimes it’s leadership, and the reminder of what strong leadership looks like, and what weak leadership looks like. I always walk away with a deeper respect for the struggles and perseverance of Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, as they began in Toccoa, jumped into Normandy, and fought their way through Europe into Germany.
And, in true managing-editor-of-a-Phoenix-Suns-blog-site fashion, I always find a valuable lesson that (metaphorically) applies to the team I cover and the current state of affairs. Last year’s watch was a cold, hard realization that you can’t operate effectively when you’re clinging to false hopes or pretending your reality is different from what it is.
This year, the moment that struck me was a fortification of hope, rather than an absence of it. That we have leadership in place now, and that is a good thing. The moment that struck me was a brief exchange between Carwood Lipton and Ronald Speirs after the Battle of Foy.
Easy Company had survived the brutal winter of 1944 in Bastogne. Then came the push into the Belgian town of Foy as part of the much larger Battle of the Bulge in January of 1945. As they prepared for that assault, they knew they had a problem. Their company officer felt like an empty uniform. First Lieutenant Norman Dike had not shown himself to be an effective leader, and there was real concern heading into battle.
That concern proved warranted.
Once the assault began, Dike froze. And the last thing you can do on a forward advance against the German army is freeze. Captain Richard Winters made the call and sent in Speirs, who at that point was Dog Company’s executive officer. He immediately took over. He pushed the advance forward, made contact with I Company, then circled back and helped Easy Company finish taking the town.
After the battle was over, with the surviving soldiers finally indoors and the hauntingly beautiful sound of Plaisir d’amour drifting through the air, Easy Company First Sergeant Carwood Lipton turned to the new commander, Ronald Speirs, and said, “These men are glad to have you as our C.O. They’re happy to have a good leader again.”
It’s a poignant moment. One that always seems to blend their story with our own reality. Because in a much smaller and far less meaningful way, that’s kind of how this offseason feels with Jordan Ott preparing for his second season with the Phoenix Suns.
The past few years have been turbulent in Phoenix. Four different head coaches in four seasons. If you want stability and continuity as an organization, that’s not how you find it. Mat Ishbia was searching for the right guy, and last summer, he called Ott’s name and handed him his first opportunity as an NBA head coach.
The season wasn’t perfect.
He earned Coach of the Month honors during an 11-5 January, and Phoenix looked like a team finding itself. February, March, and April brought a different kind of challenge. The three guard lineups became a point of frustration. Some of the rotational buttons pressed late in the year didn’t land the way you hoped. That happens. He was a rookie head coach learning in real time.
And through all of it, there was still something Suns fans haven’t felt enough of lately. Stability. It feels good heading into an offseason knowing there’s direction in the front office and clarity on the sideline. If you want to grow as a team, develop young players, and build toward something sustainable, the person with the clipboard matters. The vision matters.
I’d never compare basketball to the sacrifices made by Easy Company or anyone who served during World War II. That deserves a level of respect all its own. There are still moments where parallels find you. And this feels like one of them.
The Suns have a leader. And heading into next season, it feels good to say we’re glad Jordan Ott is our coach. That’s why this offseason feels a little different than the last few. There’s a calm to it. Not because every question has been answered or because Phoenix suddenly sits among the elite of the Western Conference. There’s still plenty to figure out.
The difference is that it finally feels like the Suns are operating with a steady hand guiding the process. Jordan Ott spent a season learning, adjusting, and laying the foundation for what he wants this team to become. In a league where organizations can panic, overreact, and lose themselves chasing quick fixes (we sure know about all of that, don’t we?), there’s value in having a voice players trust and a vision everyone can rally around.
Heading into year two, Phoenix may still be building. But for the first time in a while, it feels like they’re building with purpose. And, as Carwood Lipton says, we’re “happy to have a good leader again.”
