Suns Owner Mat Ishbia Fought Back After Stephen A Smith Declared He Was On The Verge Of Becoming "The Worst Owner In The History Of Basketball"

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It's certainly not a hot take to suggest that the Phoenix Suns are a bit of a disaster at the moment. Of the 30 teams in the NBA, 29 of them are either participating in the Play In, Playoffs or NBA Lottery. The only team that is doing none of those things, is the Phoenix Suns. They don't own their pick and they missed the Play In. Not exactly a great place to be when you then also factor in they fired their 3rd coach in 3 years and are only a few months away from probably trading Kevin Durant.

But hey, sometimes shit happens in the NBA. If this stuff was easy, everyone would win at a high level, but that's not how things work. Sometimes your season is ends up being a pile of shit which then becomes an issue because this is the team you mortgaged the future for. The whole point of trying to be aggressive and make "win now" moves, is actually winning. If you don't, well you find yourself in a position similar to what the Suns are now trying to navigate.

As a result of this underachievement, naturally the takes will be flowing, and we all know what that means. It means Stephen A is probably going to go on TV and say something insane

I'm sorry, who is on the verge of recognizing Mat Ishbia as the worst owner in the history of basketball? Why would that be a thing? It's not as if when all these decisions and moves were made people crushed Ishbia. Many billed the Suns as contenders. It's a bit of a weird take all because of a failed season, and given that it's 2025 you knew it was only a matter of time before Ishbia was asked about this and provided his opportunity to respond

We've seen a lot of rebuttles to shit Stephen A says, and honestly this one might have been one of the best. Nothing disrespectful, didn't make things personal or step over the line, and he did kind of have a point. For starters, I'd think everyone would agree that Donald Sterling and Robert Sarver were two guys who are heads and shoulders above the rest of the field when it comes to the worst owners in NBA history. To suggest otherwise doesn't even seem possible. So right off the bat Stephen A is out of his mind.

But when it comes to what fans want from a new owner, it's hard to say Ishbia didn't operate exactly how a dream owner should. He didn't question his basketball department and just cut the checks, and they certainly weren't small checks. He made the game more available by putting it on TV for free, while ALSO passing out antennas so fans could watch. He lowered the food prices, invested in the WNBA team, I mean is this not what great owners do? It's not his fault Durant/Booker/Beal didn't work out. Blame James Jones for that. Mat Ishbia's role is to simply fork over the cash and not get involved, which are things he objectively did. I don't love sticking up for billionaire owners, it's not like they need it, but he does have a point.

I sure as hell know that as someone who is watching his favorite team go through an ownership transition, I absolutely hope Bill Chisholm cuts the checks, listens to Brad Stevens, stays mostly out of the way, and also makes things more affordable for fans in attendance. That sounds like a pretty kick ass owner to me. 

So credit to Mat Ishbia for fighting back. He has bigger problems than Stephen A Smith talking crazy on TV, but if he handles this summer as well as he handled that question, perhaps the pending rebuild won't be so bad.