PHOENIX – The Phoenix Suns today announced that the team has extended the contract of General Manager James Jones.
“We’re fortunate to have a great basketball mind leading this team. James not only has tremendous instinct for identifying talent, but he has an innate ability to compose a roster that is deep with complementary players who make each other better, on and off the court,” said Managing Partner Robert Sarver. “He came in with strongly-held beliefs on what it would take to nurture a championship culture and what it should mean to wear a Suns jersey. We promised fans an elite NBA franchise that would steal their hearts and make them proud and that’s what we have built under James’ leadership.”
Winner of the 2021 NBA Executive of the Year Award, Jones is currently in his third full season in the position as the Suns sit atop the NBA standings with a 37-9 record. After officially being named general manager following the 2018-19 season, Jones engineered a basketball rise that saw the Suns become just the third team since the NBA-ABA merger to jump from a bottom two record to one of the league’s top two records in two seasons or less, completing the ascension with Western Conference and Pacific Division titles in 2020-21. Since entering ‘The Bubble’ in the summer of 2020, the Suns hold the league’s best regular season mark at 96-30 (.762).
“It's a privilege to support our Suns and Mercury players, staff, employees and our fans,” said Jones. “The Valley is a special place and I'm excited for the future.”
In one of Jones’ first moves as general manager, he hired Monty Williams as head coach and the pair has fostered an environment that brings the best out of its players and is now acknowledged as a premier destination for talent leaguewide. The Suns jumped from 19 wins to 34 in Jones and Williams’ first season together, then to 51 wins in the second season and are currently on a 66-win pace this season. Earlier this season, the Suns set a franchise record with an 18-game winning streak after setting a team playoff record by winning nine straight during the run to the NBA Finals last postseason.