“We don’t play the game to lose.”
Listen in on Suns coach Igor Kokoskov just about any time he speaks about his team and you’ll hear him say this. The lifelong assistant coach and schematic innovator knows how hard winning is in the NBA and knows the cards are stacked against him competing with this young, incoherent roster. But he will still tell you the Suns are trying to win.
It’s coaching shorthand for “we’re not tanking.” Hiring a more accomplished head coach in Kokoskov this summer did a number of things for the Suns: Moved them away from former NBA players coaching for the first time, which the last two hires had been; brought in someone familiar with the city and organization; and signaled an attempt to think creatively about how to maximize the team’s star, Devin Booker.