The sun may be setting on Jeff Hornacek's head-coaching career with the Phoenix Suns.
With the Suns losing their last four games and having a sub-par 12-20 record, ESPN's Marc Stein reports that Hornacek may be fired relatively soon.
The Phoenix Suns' 5-15 nosedive, which included a home loss Saturday night to the Philadelphia 76ers, has put the job of coach Jeff Hornacek under immediate threat, league sources told ESPN.
Sources told ESPN.com that the Suns have been forced to contemplate a coaching change far sooner than they hoped to because of a slide that has dropped them to 12-20 and 11th in the Western Conference, with fears growing within the organization that the team is no longer responding to Hornacek.
Hornacek was hired in 2013 and Phoenix immediately underwent a drastic turnaround, finishing the season 48-34, a 23-game improvement from the year before. Due to Phoenix's success, Hornacek finished second to San Antonio's Gregg Popovich in the Coach of the Year voting and the Suns looked like a team on the rise. However, last season, an injury to Eric Bledsoe along with Phoenix trying to consistently play with two other point guards in Isaiah Thomas and Goran Dragic led to a lackluster season.
Phoenix retooled in the offseason by adding Tyson Chandler and with Brandon Knight, who joined the team at last season's trade deadline, having a full training camp, the hope was that Phoenix could potentially be in the playoff hunt for either the seventh or eighth seed. But this has not been the case. Phoenix has been inconsistent and there has even been some discontent on the team.
Hornacek is smart and a good coach but clearly something is not working with the Suns this season. Phoenix has went 5-15 over the last 20 games and now that Bledsoe is out with another knee injury, the Suns could potentially see their losing streak extend to seven as they face the elite Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder in their next three games. It's a tough stretch that can cause Hornacek to lose his job, serving as the fall guy for the troubles the Suns are dealing with.
