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Exclusive: Mat Ishbia On Suns, Michigan State And Alignment

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Mat Ishbia and the Suns

Mat Ishbia sat down with PHNX’s Espo on Southwest Bias to talk about the Phoenix Mercury success, the Phoenix Suns future, what alignment really means and his passion for winning, Michigan State and more.

The following is a transcript of the conversation.

PHNX: When you decided to purchase the Suns, how important was it for you to also purchase the Mercury and keep the tradition of winning going with the franchise?

MAT ISHBIA: Obviously, everyone talks about the Suns, but the Mercury was a big part of it.

The Mercury are having a great season right now, but it was a big part, you know, back then we were, I think we were the worst team in the league, 9-31 that year. And so we’ve evolved and got the right team together, the right coach, right front office.

We feel good about what they’re doing and it’s fun, and my daughter likes going to, but my boys like it. It’s everyone.

I love basketball, whether it’s women’s basketball, men’s basketball, kids basketball, all types of basketball.

PHNX: What do you think is making things work so well for this team and how excited are you to see them succeeding right now?

ISHBIA: I’m really happy with it. I think it’s been great just to see the blueprint. So how to be successful there and what we’ve done. First it starts with the leadership.

You have Nick U’Ren the great GM and a coach, Nate Tibbetts, and they got great players, hardworking players. They play tough.

You’ve got Alyssa Thomas, who’s a superstar. But Satou, Kahleah Copper, we got great players, but the way they play, like if you watch the Mercury, you’re like they play really hard.

They play hard, they compete, and we’re gonna hopefully do a lot of that with the Suns.

We basically started the Mercury two years earlier. The Suns are starting with that type of format now going forward. We’re gonna play hard, we’re gonna play tough, we’re gonna be a gritty type of team, and we’re gonna build it the right way.

PHNX: You’ve talked a lot about the way you envisioned the Suns side working moving forward, but how has it worked, on the Mercury side? How has it clicked and meshed so well that these three stars, this bench that’s played so well and, and the coaching staff has kind of brought it all together?

ISHBIA: The coaching staff and front office had a vision and identity of what we wanted to build. And you saw the evolution. We were 9-31 and then it’s like, OK, we built, we had two legendary players, Diana and Brittney Griner, and we had to move on from that strategy and we came in with a different type of player, not just the three stars you’re talking about, but we also have a very good bench. We have a lot of young players. They play with energy, they play with toughness.

We’ve got shooting and they’re executing.

Hopefully make a great playoff push and put us in the position to be one of the top couple seeds in the WNBA.

Can you trust Mat Ishbia and Suns?

PHNX: In your book Running the Corporate Offense, you said, ‘trust is earned through actions by what you say and do on a daily basis.’

It’s pretty clear that Mercury fans have full trust in what you’re doing and what you’re trying to accomplish on that front. Trust is very tough to come by in this market with sports fans, what do you feel that you’re doing with your actions on a daily basis that should put Suns fans at ease?

ISHBIA: With the Mercury and the Suns, it’s all being done the same way now.

At the beginning with the Suns, obviously, we had a good team. It’s like, let’s put a little money behind them. Let them make some decisions and go forward.

It didn’t work very well with the Mercury, they’re already at the bottom of the league. And so at that point, if you look back to all the press conferences we ever had, the only one I’ve gotten beat up on was when I hired Nate Tibbets and Nick U’Ren.

People thought they were bad hires, and those are the two best hires we’ve had.

What I think is, people might not like what they see or what they think, because everyone loved the Kevin Durant trade. People loved the Brad Beal trade. People loved a lot of these things.

And guess what? It didn’t work.

What you’re going to see by my actions and our actions in Phoenix for the men’s and women’s team is consistency and running it the right way and the right way means the type of players that we want that the city will be proud of.

We aren’t going to win a championship every year.

I’ve said it. I’m gonna have the team for 50 years. We’re not gonna win a championship probably 47 or 48 of those years.

Like that’s the way it’s gonna go. But you’re going to be proud of the team. Last year, the Suns team was not a team that people were proud of.

It was a team that was not fun to watch, a lot of talent, not a lot of fun to watch, not a lot of success.

You’re not gonna see that anymore in Phoenix.

And so, even with the Mercury as we built the last couple of years, the first year, you know, we weren’t very good. Last year we were average, we made the playoffs. This year, you’re starting to see it come together, but we’re gonna get better over the next two or three years.

And hopefully you’ll see that with the Suns as well. Building it the right way and doing it every day.

From what they’re doing right now, what the Suns are doing today, the workouts that they’re doing, they’re getting better every single day and we’re gonna keep doing that on the men’s and women’s side, and the whole city of Phoenix will understand that and trust me and our organization by our actions, but we’re gonna continue to do it, not just say we’re gonna do it.

PHNX: Is winning a highly personal thing for you?

ISHBIA: That’s what I love about Phoenix is everyone loves basketball so much and obviously people are supportive of the Mercury and the Suns, the Mercury have won multiple championships before the Suns have never won one.

And so, winning is all we talk about, so we’re clear. Being the best franchise in the WNBA and NBA in all sports from the players’ view, the fans’ view, everyone’s view, and it’s not gonna happen overnight.

It’s not like everyone’s like, oh, just go ahead and do it. You have to build it the right way and do it, consistently day in and day out. And we’ve been doing that with the Mercury and we’re not where we want to be, by the way. We’re not winning a championship right now. We have a chance, obviously, but we haven’t, like we are building it the right way and we’re gonna do the same thing with the Suns and everyone’s gonna be proud of that.

It’s gonna be how we’re doing it going forward. So the way I like winning is extremely personal, and we will win, like we will win here and people can question it, people can say what they want to say, but the truth is, you’re not gonna ever question our intentions or my intentions.

You’re never gonna question, do we care? Like you’re never gonna question, do we want to spend money, do we want to be involved? Do we build facilities? Do we put the ring of honor up like the fans want?

We do everything around winning and around what the fans want, because I’m a fan too, and we’re gonna do exactly what fans want.

It doesn’t mean we’re gonna win every year, and sometimes we’re gonna make trades or draft picks or free agents that aren’t gonna work out. But you know what? We’re gonna try to win and we’re gonna try to compete every day.

Mat Ishbia’s Vision For The Phoenix Suns

PHNX: You guys have talked a lot about alignment, vision, and identity, Beyond those words, what does that really mean for you, for this franchise and moving forward? What does alignment, vision, and identity mean to you?

ISHBIA: You gotta have an identity of what Suns basketball is about, right? What are we gonna stand for?

What are we gonna be on the court, right?

From the way the players treat the fans walking off the court, high fiving players or throwing them a wristband, right?

From the way the players treat each other, are we great teammates?

Do we pick up our guys on the ground?

Like if you watch the Summer League team, you can start to see some of the things that we’re starting to put in place with the way the bench was interacting, the way the players cared about one another, the way the whole team flew out there to support each other and be there.

There’s certain things that are the right way.

Like people are like, ‘oh, that’s the way the Suns are gonna do it.’ Like, it’s just the right way.

If you’re involved with middle school basketball, high school, college and the right way of doing things for the WNBA and NBA, we’re gonna do it the right way in Phoenix.

The identity is gonna be around toughness. We’re gonna play hard. Our guys are not gonna be the last guys diving on the court. We’re gonna dive for the ball, maybe bloody your chin a little bit. It’s OK. And you know what, we’re gonna play tough.

Alignment, people like to joke about the word. The thing is, I can say it, and then BG Brian Gregory’s got to say it and Jordan Ott got to say it, but you actually got to see it on the court. So alignment means it can’t be just Mat says one thing and they do it. And if people don’t believe in it, it’s fine.

It doesn’t mean I’m right and they’re wrong. It just means they’re not gonna be on our team. It just means they’re not gonna be part of our organization.

You’ve already seen us make those changes. So they’re not bought in, that’s cool. They just can go buy on another team. There’s 29 other NBA teams.

PHNX: You’ve talked about your involvement and how important it is for you to set that tone from the top, and people have bristled at that. You are somebody that is highly invested in this.

Isn’t that pretty typical in any business that the guy at the top is supposed to set the tone and that that is part of the involvement from word one?

ISHBIA: Absolutely, absolutely. The truth is, I wasn’t involved enough at the beginning.

I was not involved with making these decisions about what we’re about. I just said, ‘hey, listen, we’re a good team. I’m going to uncap your luxury tax concern. Let’s go try to win. Like, let’s go do it.’

But now, on the other side of it, let’s think of all the things for the fans. People want to just talk about on the court, how many games we win, which was disappointing last year, to say the least.

But all the other aspects, I’m heavily involved with those things. Amari Stoudemire, Shawn Marion, Ring of Honor, building it the right way, getting the banners up for the women as well. Like, those are just little things.

Creating a women’s practice facility, a new headquarters. All these things matter, but on the court matters too and so I’m gonna be involved, of course.

And if people don’t want me involved, guess what? They’re not gonna want to cheer for the Suns and Mercury because now I’m involved.

The first couple of years we tried doing it a little differently. Now I’m gonna do it the way I believe, which is I’m gonna trust my instincts. I’m gonna get great people.

We’re gonna set a vision and we’re gonna execute consistently. We’re not gonna win every game, but we’re gonna do it the right way.

The fans will be proud, the city of Phoenix will be proud, and eventually we’ll win championships here in Phoenix.

Will Mat Ishbia Turn Suns Into MSU?

PHNX: Michigan State University is a big part of your life and your story. What is it about MSU and the Izzo mindset that’s important to you and kind of instilling it here in Phoenix as well?

USATSI 22439575

Former Michigan State player Mat Ishbia, right, talks with head coach Tom Izzo before the game against Maryland on Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.

ISHBIA: Well, I won’t even say it’s the Izzo mindset. I love Tom Izzo and what Michigan State’s done, but Michigan State has a brand.

Like I said at one of my press conferences, you only talk about Michigan State basketball, go ask 50 college basketball coaches. What do they feel when they play Michigan State? They’re like, ‘Oh, they’re gonna be tough. They’re gonna rebound. They’re gonna be in transition. They’re gonna run.’

There’s certain things. The type of kid that goes to Michigan State, you’re not gonna have these types of problems. You know what they are. They’re gonna usually get better every year, player development.

Pittsburgh Steelers football, they have an identity, right?

When you hear about certain teams and organizations, there’s an identity.

Phoenix Suns are going to have that. We don’t have that right now. We are going to have that going forward.

It’s not gonna be just like Michigan State. They’re like, ‘oh, it’s gonna be like Michigan State’ but it’s gonna be winning and we’re gonna figure out how winning it is not. Winning on the court only, it’s off the court it’s doing it the right way.

There’s a lot of stuff for Michigan State we’re stealing. There’s a lot of stuff that Michigan State does that we won’t like. There’s a lot of stuff that other NBA teams do that we love and we’re going to steal that stuff and there’s teams that other NBA teams we don’t like. We’re not going to steal that stuff.

We’re going to try to find it and find out the Phoenix Suns way, and that’s what my job is as the owner and the leader of the organization, and it’s going to go through everyone and we’re going to be aligned all the way through.