New Phoenix Suns coach Jeff Hornacek was GM Ryan McDonough's choice all the way

Ryan McDonough was first made aware of Jeff Hornacek's potential nine years ago when Danny Ainge was looking for a new coach in 2004. McDonough had just recently joined the organization when Hornacek was contacted without even having spent a minute on the sidelines as a coach in any capacity.

Hornacek said Ainge called him out of the blue in 2004, promising that he was one of three finalists (though Hornacek was a backup plan to their #1 choice). But after a night of tossing and turning, Horny decided he wasn't interested quite yet. He wanted to wait until all of his kids were out of high school at the least.

Since then, Hornacek entered coaching while McDonough kept tabs from afar.

"I had [Jeff] in the back of my mind the whole time that he was the guy we might want," McDonough told me today. "But I didn't know him personally, so I kind of slotted him in the middle. I wanted to meet a few guys before him and get to know them and then have a few guys lined up after him."

I've got to tell you - hearing McDonough speak with candor and conviction, in that baritone voice, leaves you certain he just told you the honest truth. I like this guy in charge of the Suns.

"But he came in and did so well," McDonough continued, "That I said, okay, there's interest here from other teams. He was interviewing for other jobs. As you know there are a number of other head coaching openings around the league. He went to another interview right after he met with us and did very well there from what we heard."

It's interesting to note that when Hornacek was offered the Suns position there were seven, going on eight, coaching openings in the NBA.

Within two days of Hornacek accepting the Suns offer, three of those remaining seven positions are now filled. Hornacek had interviewed with Charlotte, who hired someone else yesterday and with at least Philadelphia if not others.

McDonough learned from Danny Ainge to be "unafraid". So he went after Hornacek before losing him.

"I said okay, if this is our guy we're not going to drag our feet," McDonough said. "It was really so obvious, to be honest with you, once we met with him."

Earlier in the open press conference, McDonough outlined Ainge's Hornacek's qualifications.

"The real reason Jeff is here as our new head coach is all the career path that he just walked you through. Growing up he was the son of coach. Johnny Orr raved about his ability. He called him a leader and a coach on the floor. And that was at 22 years old. Going back in my past when I was with the Celtics in 2004 we had a coaching opening. We had reached out to Jeff when he'd never been an assistant coach, and that was nine years ago."

But McDonough isn't denying the local draw of having Hornacek on the bench.

"His ties to the community and this organization are a bonus but more of it was his playing experience, growing up the son of a coach, being an assistant coach, being current with NBA players, being able to teach the game," McDonough told us in his deep baritone voice. "So even though there were a number of other good candidates still available or tied up on playoff teams, let's not wait and run the risk of losing this guy."