SUNS

Bickley: Golden State Warriors are cause for celebration in Tucson, mixed feelings in Phoenix

Dan Bickley
azcentral sports
Phoenix Suns President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Steve Kerr (left) and new head coach Alvin Gentry (cq) during a press conference at US Airways Arena in Phoenix, AZ.

Satisfaction is coursing through Tucson. The Golden State Warriors are going to the NBA Finals with a roster full of Wildcat DNA. They will be represented by head coach Steve Kerr, assistant coaches Luke Walton and Bruce Fraser and guard Andre Iguodala.

Move closer to the Valley, the moment becomes bittersweet. These Warriors are what our Suns should have been, had they only stayed together, had they only learned to play defense. And if you saw the postgame photo of Kerr hugging assistant coach Alvin Gentry, you surely felt a twinge of sadness.

"If (the Suns) hadn't gotten rid of people, that would've been us," Gentry said.

For context: Gentry is not bitter. To the contrary, he's heading to the NBA Finals for the first time in nearly 30 years as a coach. His name is circulating for head-coaching vacancies, and he might inherit the NBA's next superstar (New Orleans' Anthony Davis). He will get another shot at the end of a bench, and his future employer will feel blessed. Guaranteed.

But Gentry was dealt a series of unfortunate blows on his way out of Phoenix, after leading his team to the 2010 Western Conference finals. That season, he coached fearlessly, with infectious energy. He benched star players in crunch time. He took on everyone and everything, even throwing up in a bucket during a playoff game against the Lakers.

After that season, Suns owner Robert Sarver made a momentous decision. He would not give Amar'e Stoudemire five years of guaranteed money, and from a financial standpoint, the move was ultimately validated by the declining value he gave the Knicks.

Yet the Suns are still in recovery mode. They haven't been to the post-season since. The Suns left a shot at a title sitting on the table because the price and injury risk was too high. But the alternative hasn't been any better.

Kerr left the organization just before the Stoudemire decision, for personal reasons; Gentry's was quickly undermined by Kerr's replacement, Lance Blanks; he was ultimately replaced by a shadow spy (Lindsey Hunter) the new general manager dropped in the room. The final coup was so clumsy that Gentry saw it coming from miles away.

Alvin Gentry struggled to get the Suns back on course after the 2010 season.

For a man who once endured working for Donald Sterling's Clippers, the encore seemed like cruel and unusual punishment.

"My whole thing is, I love Phoenix," Gentry said. "I loved the Suns. I still do. I still live there and probably always will. But I refuse to look back and have anything be a negative or cause bitterness. We always tell our guys, if you make a mistake or something goes wrong, you move onto the next play. I'm in the next play."

For most Suns fans, these Warriors cut even deeper. They are the first franchise since Mike D'Antoni's Suns to be the NBA's best and most entertaining team. They are unstoppably familiar on offense, right down to the point guard MVP and Leandro Barbosa coming off the bench.

As a rookie head coach, Kerr has done what D'Antoni could not, namely get his team to play championship defense. That's how these Warriors escaped a 2-1 series deficit to bulky Memphis, the kind of playoff nemesis that always derailed the Suns' high-octane approach back in the day.

"One difference: We are ranked Number 1 defensively," Gentry said. "Everyone said we were too small and too undersized. But the last three games we played against the Grizzlies, they never shot above 40 percent. That's the thing we needed and never had in Phoenix. We didn't have to be Number 1. We just needed to be Number 15, not Number 24 or 25."

This is a tremendous accomplishment for Kerr, the most decorated Arizona alumni in NBA history. He's been a five-time champion; a teammate of Michael Jordan; he's made a shot to win a NBA championship; he delivered the best speech in the history of championship parades; he twice served as one of the NBA's best television commentators; and he was a good, if somewhat reluctant, general manager.

He's never looked more comfortable than he does coaching a basketball team, and here's the terrible twist for Suns fans:

Kerr once thanked Gentry for his breathtaking coaching job in 2009-10, claiming it resuscitated his love of basketball. And now Kerr just surpassed that performance.

"Steve is such a people person," Gentry said. "He's learned from two of the greatest coaches in the history of the game: Pop (Spurs coach Gregg Popovich) and Phil Jackson. He lets us coach, he empowers our players and he has no ego whatsoever, as we all know.

"Plus, we have really good players. We have great character. And character counts."

Maybe you're happy for Kerr, but I feel even better for Gentry. Kerr's basketball life has been one great triumph after another, while Gentry has been mostly a hard-luck coach, bouncing from one bad situation into another.

It appears his luck is finally changing.

"This has been a magical ride," Gentry said.

And a bittersweet moment on Planet Orange.

Reach Bickley at dan.bickley@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8253. Follow him at twitter.com/danbickley. Listen to "Bickley and Marotta," weekdays from 12-2 p.m. on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.