Former Utah men’s basketball star Johnnie Bryant is a finalist for an NBA head coaching job.
On Monday, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Bryant and Jordan Ott — who are both assistant coaches on the Cleveland Cavaliers — are the two finalists for the Phoenix Suns’ head coaching vacancy.
According to the report, both Bryant and Ott are set to meet with Suns owner Mat Ishbia, CEO Josh Bartelstein and general manager Brian Gregory in Michigan later this week. The Suns fired former head coach Mike Budenholzer on April 14 after they missed the playoffs and ended the regular season with a 36-46 record.
Bryant spent three seasons with the Runnin’ Utes from 2005-08. In that time, he was an honorable mention for the All-Mountain West team during his sophomore and junior seasons.
He also set Utah‘s career 3-point percentage record, shooting 44.3% from beyond the arc. After Bryant ended his career with Utah, the former Ute entered the coaching world in 2012 with the Utah Jazz.
There he served as an assistant from 2012-20, alongside now-Runnin’ Utes head coach Alex Jensen. He then took a job with the New York Knicks from 2020-24 before joining the Cavaliers.
In 2024-25, Cleveland had the second-best record (64-18) in the NBA behind the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Cavaliers were eliminated in the Eastern Conference semifinals by the Indiana Pacers.
