The Phoenix Suns have officially begun their search for a new head coach. Mike D'Antoni announced that he is leaving the Suns and will go to New York to be the coach for the New York Knicks.

When D'Antoni came to the Suns -- his first full season as head coach was in 2004-2005 -- he was credited with the third-largest turnaround in NBA history by leading the Suns to 62 wins. That was a 33 wins better than the previous year.

The Phoenix Suns made the playoffs in every year that Mike D'Antoni was the coach for the full year. Although management asked him to stay on, he decided to talk to other teams after the Suns lost in the first round of the playoffs this year. The presumption is that he wasn't happy with some management decisions regarding the team and its players.

Maybe 2007-2008 was the last chance at an NBA championship for the Phoenix Suns for a while. Steve Nash was not as dominant as he used to be, and the addition of Shaquille O'Neal to the line-up was either too late or didn't provide enough of what he was there to do. That deal wasn't the magic bullet we hoped it would be.

You Might Also Be Interested In....

• The Gorilla
• Suns Logo
• NBA Playoffs Update 2008
• 2009 NBA All-Star Game in Phoenix