Mat Ishbia is not afraid to speak his mind.
In his opening press conference after purchasing the team in 2023, he tried to make himself out to be a big-picture, long-term thinker. He was quoted as saying “I’ll be here for 40 or 50 years.” Yet, he also said, “I’m not going to sacrifice short term for long term.”
Three days after Ishbia took ownership of the team, the Suns traded four first-round picks, a pick swap, and fan favorites Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson for an aging, yet still very talented,
Kevin Durant. In the two and a half year Durant era, the Suns won just one playoff series.
After a disastrous 2024-25 campaign that saw the Suns miss the playoffs, Kellan Olson of Arizona Sports was able to obtain a memo released internally by Mat Ishbia to the Phoenix Suns basketball operations team, informing them that he, as owner of the team, was going to be more involved moving forward.
Most Suns fans found this confusing, considering it was widely assumed that Ishbia already had integrated himself into the roster construction process. This belief from the fanbase was not without a firm foundation either, as Woj had reported at the time of the Kevin Durant trade that Ishbia personally finalized the details with Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai.
Going into the 2025-2026 season, vibes were at an all-time low. The Suns traded Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets for a package that many found underwhelming. Many Suns fans thought the team should trade Devin Booker and start a total rebuild. Phoenix also hired its third coach in as many years. The national NBA media considered this team to be a Western Conference bottom-feeder with no future, and they were happy to tell you about it.
Amid the tumult, Mat Ishbia gave perhaps his most confusing quote yet: “I hope that we win more games than we won last year, but the truth is, it’s not going to be measured in wins and losses this year, but it is going to be measured in success.”
That quote may have been strange at the time, but over the first quarter of the season, the Phoenix Suns have found that success.
And it all starts in the locker room.
During the Kevin Durant/Bradley Beal era, the Suns were known for locker room drama. From Bradley Beal being insulted by being asked to play like Jrue Holiday, to reports that Coach Bud had asked superstar Devin Booker to stop being so vocal in the team huddles. The relationship between the players and the organization was terrible, and the relationships in-between players seemed just as bad.
This year, those relationships are aligned. No longer do we have to question whether or not the players like each other. Instead of interviews where players talk about how great their lives are while refusing to adjust their games, we get interviews where Dillon Brooks interrupts Mark Williams to publicly congratulate him on making his first career three-pointer.
The strength of that locker room is showing up on the court, too. The Suns were 14-10 going into Wednesday night’s Cup game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Currently, that is good enough for 7th in the Western Conference, just one game back of the 6th-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves, against whom the Suns now own the tiebreaker after two hard-fought victories.
Most importantly, this team is fun to watch. Even with their two best scorers injured, the Suns are an entertaining and competitive product for the fans. For the first time in a few seasons, we can watch the game with the confidence that the players care as much as we do.
Mat Ishbia’s comments can be confusing, but he hit the nail on the head this time. Phoenix doesn’t have its own draft picks moving forward. If the Suns want to return to true contention, it is going to have to be the hard way. This organization has to build a culture that will sustain success year after year no matter who comes through the door.
The Suns won’t win every game, but that’s okay. We aren’t measuring in wins and losses this year; we are measuring in success.
