Cavs’ Johnnie Bryant, Jordan Ott Have In-Person Interviews With Suns For Coaching Vacancy

That’s not really how it’s going, but per Marc Stein of The Stein Line, Cleveland’s Johnnie Bryant and Jordan Ott were among those to visit Phoenix for in-person interviews earlier in the week.

Along with those, the Suns held in-person interviews with Dallas Mavericks assistant Sean Sweeney and Miami Heat assistant Chris Quinn, a former Cavaliers guard. Sweeney and Quinn interviewed for the Cavs’ then-vacancy last summer.

Stein noted that Oklahoma City Thunder assistant Dave Bliss is also a candidate for the Suns job, though Bliss and the Thunder are busy preparing for the NBA Finals at the moment.

Bryant is close with Cavaliers All-Star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell, as the two have worked together with the Utah Jazz and Cavaliers. 

Mitchell told NBA reporter Marc J. Spears of Andscape that Bryant holds him accountable in Cleveland. 

“Obviously, Kenny Atkinson and I have a great relationship,” Mitchell said. “[Bryant is] a guy that’s always keeping me [honest]. Even when I have stretches where I play well, he will be like, ‘No, you ain’t done nothing yet. There is always room to grow.’ It’s always keeping yourself [humble].

“I give Coach Kenny and Johnnie Bryant a lot of credit, just because there is always a challenge. There’s always something. Never satisfied. There’s always something more, and [Bryant is] probably the guy that gets the most out of me.”

Ott became an assistant under Atkinson before this season, coming to Cleveland after two years with the Lakers and former Los Angeles coach Darvin Ham.

Before that, Ott served as an assistant coach with the Nets from 2016-2020 under Atkinson, and was the Hawks’ video coordinator from 2013-16 under Mike Budenholzer.

Interestingly, the Suns fired Budenholzer after the season. They fired Frank Vogel after last offseason. They fired Monty Williams the offseason before that.

So whoever gets the job next can safely assume he’s likely on a short leash.