At this time last year, Utah native and Phoenix Suns associate head coach Kevin Young was seen as a strong potential head coaching candidate, and multiple reports indicated that he interviewed with several teams, including the Utah Jazz.
Young ultimately stayed with the Suns for this season, and after they fired head coach Monty Williams on Saturday, TNT’s Chris Haynes reported Sunday that Young will be a candidate to replace him.
As Haynes reported, there is expected to be stiff competition for the job, with Mike Budenholzer and Nick Nurse having both won NBA championships as head coaches before getting fired this offseason.
Young, 41, was born in Salt Lake City but spent his formative years in Georgia. At the age of 23, he became a head coach in Ireland before becoming an assistant at UVU (then UVSC) a year later.
After multiple additional stops — mostly in the NBA G League (then the D-League), Young became an assistant with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2017 and stayed there until 2020 when he was hired by the Suns.
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“If it’s alignment you’re looking for, Suns associate head coach Kevin Young is a natural fit,” Kevin Arnovitz wrote for ESPN last year. “Both the Suns’ basketball ops crew and head coach Monty Williams regard Young as an essential hub to share ideas across the organization.
“It’s a logical role for a young coach who excels at both listening and communicating. Young served as a head coach in the G League for six seasons, which gave him a foundation as an organizer and big-picture thinker. He has earned the respect of players with his work ethic and candor. He was a finalist for the Washington job last spring, where his sharpness impressed.”