Suns’ Mark Bryant getting praise for development of Deandre Ayton

The young Phoenix Suns roster over the past year has gone through a tremendous amount of growth that helped drive the team to its first NBA Finals appearance in nearly three decades.

Much of the credit can be placed on head coach Monty Williams and his staff, which includes assistant coach Mark Bryant.

Former NBA player and current ESPN commentator Kendrick Perkins tweeted Bryant was one of the top assistant coaches in the game and said he doesn’t get enough credit for his work.

The tweet mentioned his impact on Dwight Howard, Serge Ibaka, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and now Deandre Ayton.

Durant echoed Perkins’ statement about his former coach in a tweet.

Talk about it https://t.co/1A8JDfh1Xt

— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) July 8, 2021

Ayton has taken his game to another level in the postseason, surpassing his output during the season.

The big man has averaged 16.5 points per game and 12.2 rebounds in the postseason.

Those numbers are up from 14.4 points and 10.5 rebounds in 69 regular season games.

Bryant joined the Suns in 2019, previously spending time with the Dallas Mavericks, Orlando Magic and the Seattle Supersonics which became the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Durant spent his first nine seasons with Bryant on the Supersonics and Thunder, averaging 27.4 points per game and seven rebounds across 641 games.

Bryant isn’t the only Suns assistant getting praise from this miraculous Suns run to the Finals as Willie Green reportedly interviewed for the Washington Wizards and New Orleans Pelicans head coaching vacancies.

The Suns take a 2-0 lead into Game 3 of the Finals against the Bucks into Milwaukee on Sunday. Tip-off is 5 p.m. and all the action can be heard on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Suns Station.