Is Steve Kerr To Blame for the Phoenix Suns' Slide?

In 2004, Arizona native Steve Kerr, along with a group of buying partners, acquired the Phoenix Suns from previous owner/GM and basketball guru, Jerry Colangelo.

After nearly three years of taking a hands-off role with the Suns organization and continuing his broadcasting and writing career, Kerr announced that he would be replacing Bryan Colangelo as Suns GM and head of basketball operations.

In his first season as GM, the Suns went from 61 wins to 55—granted, not a huge downturn, but nonetheless not an improvement.

Although the Suns' regular season record was nothing to sneeze at, the midseason trade of Shawn Marion to the Heat in exchange for Shaquille O'Neal proved to be less than a blockbuster and didn't exactly translate into playoff victories.

Though Shaq is undoubtedly one of the league's greatest big men of all time and has shown resurgence as of late, he was at a low point in his career when he was acquired by the Suns, averaging career-lows in points and rebounds for the Heat.

Furthermore, Shaq proved to be more of an obstacle than a complimentary player. Trying to integrate his power-post game into a scheme built on speed, finesse, and outside shooting seemed to create conflict between then-coach Mike D'Antoni and Kerr's front office.

This conflict came to a head after a first round dismissal in the '07-'08 playoffs to conference rival San Antonio. In the offseason, former coach of the year D'Antoni was fired by Kerr and was soon on his way to Madison Square Garden to coach the derelict New York Knicks.

From this point on, Kerr seemed destined to receive all the praise for the Suns accomplishments and shoulder all of the blame for their follies. Blame proved more easy to come by than praise.

Before the '08-'09 season Kerr hired new head coach Terry Porter in hopes of implementing a half-court defensive mentality, not unlike that of the Spurs or the '07-'08 champs, the Boston Celtics.

Unfortunately, Porter's new scheme did not mesh well with the Suns' roster. After a 10-5 start to the season, the Suns began to sink quickly in the highly competitive Western Conference.

Along with changing the team's exciting "seven seconds or less" offensive identity, Kerr came under fire for several personnel decisions. Aside from the Marion-O'Neal trade, Kerr had traded away draft picks in the previous years.

Aside from just picks, Kerr traded several talented young guards, including Rajon Rondo in '07 and Rudy Fernandez in '08, two players that are proving to be real contributors to their respective teams.

Rondo having helped lead the Celtics to the promised land in 2008 and Fernandez bursting onto the scene as a serious offensive threat for the rebuilding Blazers in '08-'09.

After coming under continuous criticism for his changes, Kerr continued to tweak the roster. Two more players from the top of the rotation were traded, in forward Boris Diaw and fan-favorite two-guard Raja Bell.

Bell, a starter, and Diaw, an integral piece in Amar'e Stoudemire's '05-'06 absence, were both traded to Charlotte for an aging Jason Richardson. The once-blazing speed and young talent that had previously propelled the Suns to the conference finals was being replaced by age and experience.

The NBA's youngest team in '04-'05 with an average age of 24.3 years of age had now become one of the league's oldest at 29.6, and looked more like a late '90s fantasy team than a current contender.

Again, questions about Kerr's management choices cast a large shadow over the Valley of the Sun.  

After only four months on the Suns' bench and a dismal 28-23 start, Porter was fired over the All-Star break and replaced by Alvin Gentry, a hold-over from the D'Antoni era. It seemed that this move was a swing in the opposite direction for Kerr and the Suns' front office.

In his first press-conference as head coach Gentry, without batting an eye, said "I think we have to go back to establishing a breakneck pace like we did in the past." So with the "new-old" scheme, the Suns seemed poised to make a run at the No. 8 seed in the West.

After averaging over 140 points in Gentry's first few games, it seemed there was little doubt that he was the answer to the Suns' woes. But as the second half of the season nears its end there seems to be little hope of a playoff berth for the ailing Suns.

Their overall ppg has dropped to just above 100 and with injuries to several key players, including Amar'e Stoudemire's season-ending eye surgery, the Suns' mediocre season is all but over.

So the question remains. How much blame should be placed on Steve Kerr's shoulders?

Some say he was crazy to start dismantling a well-oiled, perennial playoff contender, but upon closer inspection one can see that he was only trying to carve out a new image that more closely resembled that of teams having gone further than the conference finals.

Kerr wanted to emulate teams like Detroit, Boston, and L.A. and moreso, the teams that Kerr himself had played on and won rings with in Chicago and San Antonio.

Unfortunately, Kerr seemingly lacked the confidence to see his plans through and the Suns have yet to really establish an identity under his administration.

No one can say that Kerr is anything but a proven winner on the court, and no one can question his drive and desire to win.

But can he parlay his past glories as a player into a successful career in an NBA front office? Can one of Arizona's native sons bring the state it's first ever NBA title? That remains to be seen.