WEST POINT, N.Y. — It was the summer of 1988 and Jerry Colangelo, then the general manager of the Phoenix Suns, was looking for a new head coach.
He had pieced together a talented roster. A trade the previous winter had delivered the Suns a future All-Star point guard, Kevin Johnson. Eddie Johnson, an electric scorer on the rise, would share backcourt duties. Colangelo was also close to signing Tom Chambers, a free-agent All-Star, to a multiyear deal.
They also had an undersized, underwhelming prospect out of Iowa State who Colangelo had drafted two years earlier with the 46th pick: Jeff Hornacek.
But first Colangelo needed to a find a voice to mold everything together. He tabbed Cotton Fitzsimmons, the longtime NBA coach who had enjoyed a successful run with the Suns in the early ‘70s. Earlier in his career at Kansas State, Fitzsimmons was an assistant to Tex Winter, the famed architect of the triangle offense and future mentor to current Knicks president, Phil Jackson.
“Cotton ran the triangle in his first period with us,&rdq ...
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Article written by Yaron Weitzman