Phoenix Suns: Alvin Gentry and the 5 Best Head Coaches in Phoenix Suns' History

The Phoenix Suns franchise is relatively young in comparison to some of the NBA's most successful ones like the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics.

Dating back to 1968, the Suns have had 14 different head coaches, including two interim stints from the team's first ever general manager, Jerry Colangelo in the early 1970's, and three separate tries under Cotton Fitzsimmons, spanning three decades.

Over 43 seasons, the Suns have had some of the most winningest regular season coaches and greatest basketball minds in history at the helm, but who stands out?

Join Bleacher Report as we take a better look at the five best coaches in the history of Phoenix Suns basketball.

5. Alvin Gentry (2009-Present)

Regular season record (Postseason record): 112-83 (10-6)

Long-time Suns assistant, Alvin Gentry took over for the fired Terry Porter in early 2009 after the Suns failed to repeat the success they had created in the previous four seasons under former Suns head man Mike D'Antoni.

Gentry took over for Porter following the All-Star break and led the team to a solid 18-13 finish, missing the playoffs by just two games that season.

The next year Gentry continued to open up the Phoenix offense with Steve Nash and Amar'e Stoudemire, and coached the veteran ball club to a 54-28 record, earning the Western Conference's No. 3 seed and an eventual berth in the 2010 Western Conference Finals against the defending NBA champion Lakers.

Gentry would coach the Suns to a 10-6 record that postseason, falling two wins short of the NBA Finals.

In 2010-2011, Gentry and the Suns struggled to adapt to life without Stoudemire, but managed to stay in the playoff hunt until the final weeks of the season, finishing 40-42 and second in the Pacific division for the third consecutive year.

Gentry will look to help the Suns return to the postseason in 2012, that is if there is a season.

4. Mike D'Antoni (2003-2008)

Regular season record (Postseason record): 253-136 (26-25)

Mike D'Antoni joined the Suns in 2002 as an assistant, but would be hired as the head coach in 2003, taking over for Frank Johnson.

D'Antoni coached Phoenix to a 21-40 record over the final 61 games of the season, but was brought back for the 2004-2005 season, in which the team acquired point guard Steve Nash through free agency.

The West Virginia native coached the Suns to a 62-20 record that season, tied for the best in franchise history and the best record that year in the NBA.

Phoenix would lose in the Western Conference Finals in 2005, but continued to remain among the NBA's elite the next few seasons, winning 54, 61 and 55 games over the next three seasons.

D'Antoni left the desert for the Big Apple in 2008 after the front office began to blow up the roster which had come so close to winning it all for so many years.

D'Antoni won NBA Coach of the Year in 2005, and led the Suns to three of the franchise's six division titles from 2005-2007.

He is currently the head coach of the New York Knicks.

3. Paul Westphal (1992-1996)

Regular season record (Postseason record): 191-88 (25-19)

Paul Westphal was both a player and coach for the Phoenix Suns, winning in both roles.

Westphal took over the head position for Cotton Fitzsimmons in 1992 and was fired four years later, ultimately being replaced by Fitzsimmons in 1996.

Westphal led the Suns to the 1993 NBA Finals in his first season with the team, winning a franchise record 62 games before losing to the Chicago Bulls in six games that June.

The Finals appearance was the second in Suns' history and the last time Phoenix has qualified for the NBA's championship series.

Westphal went on to win 56 and 59 games the next two seasons, but failed to get the Suns past the conference semifinals, losing to the eventual two-time NBA champion Houston Rockets twice in heartbreaking fashion in 1994 and 1995.

Westphal was fired in 1996 after a 14-19 start, but remains the winningest regular season coach in team history by percentage (68.4 percent).

Westphal is currently the head coach of the Sacramento Kings.

2. John MacLeod (1973-1987)

Regular season record (Postseason record): 579-543 (37-44)

John MacLeod took over for Cotton Fitzsimmons in 1973 and coached the Suns for the next 14 seasons.

MacLeod would go on to lead Phoenix to nine postseason appearances and an NBA Finals appearance in 1976, when the Suns fell to the Boston Celtics in one of the most thrilling series in NBA history.

Phoenix would reach the 1979 and 1984 Western Conference Finals under MacLeod, but lost both series.

Despite MacLeod's near-600 wins as head coach of the Suns, he has a losing record in the postseason and only led Phoenix to four 50-plus win seasons in 14 tries.

Also, remember that only half of MacLeod's seasons with the Suns ended with Phoenix having a winning record.

Sure MacLeod was successful, after all he has more wins than any other Suns coach in franchise history, and he was no doubt one of the best to ever stalk the bench in the desert, but he's not the greatest.

The Indiana native retired from coaching in 1991 and was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005.

1. Cotton Fitzsimmons (1970-1972, 1988-1992 & 1995-1997)

Regular season record (Postseason record): 341-181 (22-22)

Cotton Fitzsimmons was a basketball genius when it came to coaching the Phoenix Suns.

Fitzsimmons took his first NBA head coaching job with the team in 1970 and would coach the Suns three separate times over the next three decades.

In his first two seasons with the Suns (1970-1972), Fitzsimmons led Phoenix to a winning record but failed to reach the postseason.

Fitzsimmons would then head east to Atlanta to coach the Hawks in 1972, but returned to the desert in 1988 to replace the long-tenured John MacLeod.

Fitzsimmons took over the losing franchise and led the Suns to four consecutive 50-plus win seasons, including two Western Conference Finals appearances in 1989 and 1990.

He would win NBA Coach of the Year in 1989.

Fitzsimmons would retire as coach of the Suns in 1992 to become the team's senior executive vice-president, but ultimately returned halfway through the 1995-1996 season, taking over for Paul Westphal and leading the Suns to the postseason for the fifth time in seven seasons.

Fitzsimmons would retire early in the 1996-1997 season after the Suns got off to a slow start, but he had already cemented his legacy as the greatest coach in Phoenix Suns' history.

Fitzsimmons retired with 832 career wins as head coach (10th in NBA history) and coached the Suns to six winning seasons in six full tries as coach.

The Missouri native revived the franchise on three different occasions, in the 1970's, 1980's and 1990's.

Fitzsimmons died at age 72 in 2004 in Phoenix, Arizona, having won more than 65 percent of his games with the Suns. 

Patrick Clarke is a Featured Columnist for the Phoenix Suns. Follow on Twitter @_Pat_Clarke