Report: Suns Fire Head Coach Earl Watson

A rough, embarrassing start to the regular season has gotten worse for the Phoenix Suns, who have reportedly fired head coach Earl Watson, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Watson was three games into his third season in Phoenix, after taking over for Jeff Hornacek 50 games into the 2015-16 NBA season. His continued employment in that job never made much sense outside the context of a team undertaking a multi-year rebuilding project—Watson had less than a full year on staff with the Austin Spurs of the NBA’s development league before he was brought onto Hornacek’s staff, and was on that job for less than a year before he was made interim head coach. The Suns have never come close to competence on either end during his tenure, but they’ve also been talent poor and playing more for the top of the draft than for playoff position.

The Suns have the worst defensive rating in the NBA, and the second-worst offensive rating, after finishing last season in the bottom eight in both categories. Two horrific blowout losses and an 0-3 start seem to have finally sealed Watson’s doom.