Rivers, who led the Boston Celtics to the
2007-08 title, recently lost his job as the Philadelphia 76ers'
coach.
Others in the running for the Phoenix job include Suns associate
head coach Kevin Young and Sacramento Kings associate head coach
Jordi Fernandez, per ESPN and The Athletic.
In addition, The Athletic listed another ex-NBA championship
coach, Frank Vogel, as a fifth Suns finalist. Vogel guided the
Los Angeles Lakers to the 2019-20 crown.
According to ESPN, the Suns have just four finalists who will
meet with the franchise's brass.
The Suns fired coach Monty Williams after the team fell to the
Denver Nuggets in six games in the Western Conference
semifinals. The Nuggets subsequently swept the Lakers to reach
the NBA Finals.
Williams, the NBA Coach of the Year in 2021-22, led the Suns to
a 45-37 mark this season. In his second season on the Phoenix
bench, the Suns reached the 2020-21 NBA Finals before losing to
the Milwaukee Bucks. Williams, 51, had a 194-115 regular-season
record in four seasons with Phoenix.
Rivers, 61, compiled a 154-82 record during his run with the
76ers, leaving his career mark at 1,097-763 through his stints
with the Orlando Magic (1999-2000 to 2003-04), Boston (2004-05
to 2012-13), the Los Angeles Clippers (2013-14 to 2019-20) and
Philadelphia (2020-21 to 2022-23).
Nurse, 55, produced a 227-163 record with the Raptors, his lone
NBA head-coaching job.
Vogel, 49, has a 431-389 mark after stays with the Indiana
Pacers (2010-11 to 2015-16), Orlando (2016-17 to 2017-18) and
the Lakers (2019-20 to 2021-22).
Young, 41, was an assistant for four years with the 76ers before
spending the past three seasons as an assistant in Phoenix.
Fernandez, 40, worked for six years as an assistant with the
Nuggets prior to spending the current season with the Kings.
--Field Level Media
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