Phoenix Suns‘ owner Mat Ishbia came under fire recently over his reaction to ESPN’s latest insiders poll. The Suns were tied at third when it came to the team most likely to take a tumble in 2025-26, and Ishbia stated he didn’t care much about that, as they had wrongly predicted his team would be contenders the last two seasons.
Ishbia was criticized for his comments, and Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green reacted to one such negative post on Threads by defending him.
“Makes complete sense.”
The general point Ishbia was making was that experts can be wrong, as evidenced by predictions about the Suns over the last couple of seasons. With a Big 3 of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal, the team was expected to at least make some noise in the playoffs, but they didn’t.
The Minnesota Timberwolves swept the Suns in the first round of the 2024 playoffs, and Ishbia’s team didn’t even make it to the postseason in 2025. They finished 11th in the West with a 36-46 record and parted with Durant and Beal in this offseason.
Thanks to those departures, the insiders predicted the Suns would finish 13th in the West in 2025-26. Could they be proven wrong? Sure. There always tends to be one or two teams that defy expectations, and the Suns could be one of them.
Still, while Ishbia has a point, using his own team’s failings might not have been the brightest idea. The 45-year-old himself thought the Suns had a team good enough to compete for a championship last season, and they didn’t even get close.
Ishbia has been very optimistic about the Suns’ chances of winning every season since he bought the team in 2023 at a $4 billion valuation, and it’s no different this time around. It’s far more likely, though, that they’ll finish closer to the bottom of the West than the top.
As for Green coming to Ishbia’s defense, that shouldn’t surprise anyone. They’re both Michigan State alumni, and the Warriors forward has loved what he has seen this offseason from the Suns.
Ishbia has hired Jordan Ott as head coach, Brian Gregory as GM, and Mateen Cleaves as a player development coach. All three have ties to Michigan State, and the hires have raised eyebrows. Time will tell if this was a masterstroke or a disaster.
The Suns’ play on the court isn’t the only concern for Ishbia, though. ESPN reported that minority owners Andy Kohlberg and Scott Seldin are suing the team. It has been alleged that Ishbia refused to provide them access to internal records, which they are entitled to as minority owners.
Kohlberg and Seldin want more information about “certain spending and capital raises” that Ishbia has engaged in.
Lawsuits sure are becoming commonplace for the Suns nowadays, as this has been the sixth one filed against them since November 2024. Some of the previous allegations include discrimination, retaliation, harassment, and wrongful termination.
So far, the only positive aspect of Ishbia’s ownership has been his willingness to spend. The Suns had the highest payroll last season at $210 million, but they proved to be the greatest example of the fact that money alone cannot buy success.
