After six years as a Nets assistant, Jordan Ott returned to Brooklyn on Monday as head coach of the Suns, leading them to a 126-117 victory at Barclays Center.
He packed a career’s worth of ups and downs into those six seasons.
“Yeah, just good memories. Six years. A lot of good people, a lot of good players. Saw the whole gamut of seasons (in) six seasons,” said Ott. “But yeah, it’s good to be back. Just different in the other locker room, but another game, ready to go.”
Ott arrived in Brooklyn in 2016 as an assistant on Kenny Atkinson’s staff. He helped oversee their first rebuild, and watched them form the Big Three. He outlasted his mentor to work under successors Jacque Vaughn and even Steve Nash — on the staff for their Eastern Conference semifinal classic vs. Milwaukee — before taking his hard-earned lessons to the Lakers in 2022.
Now he’s taken over the Suns, and has former Nets forward DeMarre Carroll on his staff.
“I think it was just so many different seasons, from where we started, those first couple years of just the development piece,” said Ott. “I mean, it’s cool with DeMarre now, like, bringing him in that group in that third season with Kenny. Go to the playoffs with a different group that was developing but with great veteran leadership. And then it shifted; it shifted to the superstars. And we were close, through all those ups and downs of those couple seasons.
“We were close, stepping on the line in Game 7. So, just got to be prepared. Gotta be prepared for a lot of different stuff. I don’t know what’s next, but attack each day, every day is a new challenge. Early in those Brooklyn years we didn’t have draft picks, so it was all about, ‘How can we maximize the group that we have?’ And that was influential. Never had to go through a time where, ‘Hey, play this, do this.’ We were all trying to win every single night. So, overall good experience.”
The Nets started rookie Drake Powell and Terance Mann in the backcourt vs. the Suns. Powell finished with 11 points while Mann added 10.
Michael Porter Jr. returned after sitting out Sunday’s loss in Chicago. But rookie Egor Dëmin (left plantar fascia injury management), backup center Day’Ron Sharpe (illness/throat contusion), and Cam Thomas (left hamstring injury management) were out against Phoenix.
Rookie Ben Saraf was in the G League.
Jalen Green was out for the Suns.
When the Nets were mulling offers for Mikal Bridges, they rejected an offer of Green and a couple of their first-round draft picks back from Houston. They eventually pried five first-rounders and a swap from the Knicks for Bridges.
