So it has come to this. Two years removed from an appearance in the Western Conference Finals, the Suns are now examining Lakers and mustache/glass combo legend Kurt Rambis (first reported here and then by ESPN.com) and former Bucks coach and current Pistons assistant coach Terry Porter for their now vacant head coaching position.

Not Avery Johnson, not Rick Carlisle, not Larry Brown. Two assistant coaches who were replaced in their last head coaching jobs. This is the future of the Phoenix Suns. And this after trying so hard to "make an impact" with the trade for Shaquille O'Neal. My how the mighty have fallen.

Now, getting past the obvious lack of star power, these choices actually aren't that bad. They're pretty solid, actually. Rambis is well liked by players, and had some success in the strike-shortened 1999 season. Porter is the much more interesting choice, having coached a severely undermanned Bucks team to the playoffs, and having worked extensively in Detroit. There's been a lot of talk about the Suns trying to become more "Spus-like"(maybe without the elder power forward eliminating key players) with defense and poise. But taking a more "Pistons-like" approach may be the wiser option. Teaching consistent defense mixed with an efficient offense may be a winning combination if a coach like Porter can keep their egos in check.

NBA Essentials ranks our six favorite stories of the day.

1. Bleacher Report: The Utah Jazz have "the most disgusting fans in the NBA."

2. The Wages of Wins Journal: Statistically, the All-Rookie second team is better than the first.

3. Mark Murphy, Boston Herald: Is Sam Cassell getting benched?

4. Basketbawful: What it's like to lunch with Larry Bird.

5. Jerry Brown, East Valley Tribune: Mark Jackson is getting an interview with the Destroyer.

6. FreeDarko: ESPN does not know who Rodney Stuckey is.

With the recent news that Mike D'Antoni has accepted the offer from the New York Knicks to be their head coach, you would think the pressure would be on the man that chased him out of town to look for a replacement. If there is any pressure, Steve Kerr isn't feeling it yet, as he's stated there's "no huge rush" to get someone in place.

"We're going to make sure we cover our bases," he said. "There's not a huge rush because we're not one of five or six teams out there looking for someone, so we don't feel like we're competing with other people."

Kerr went on to say that he thinks the team's personnel is geared towards an uptempo style, but that he wants a coach who will emphasize defense and make sure the team improves at that end of the floor.

I hate to break it to Kerr, but D'Antoni wasn't the reason the Suns were knocked out of the first round of the playoffs in five games: he was. You can't expect to blow up a team's core that has essentially been together for more than three and a half seasons, and leave the coach just 28 games to figure out how to play with his new players. Especially with someone like Shaq, whose game (for better or worse) can't help but alter a team's style.

Whoever the Suns get to be their next coach, the fact that he has a defense-first mindset won't be enough. Unless Kerr makes some roster moves to get some perimeter defenders, the team is likely to end up finishing worse than they did this season.

Things sure seem to have been heating up lately as far as the possibility of Suns' current head coach Mike D'Antoni being employed elsewhere. The Bulls and Knicks are said to both be interested in his services, with job offers being pitched by at least one of those two teams. But none of this matters to Steve Nash, as he fully expects his coach to return to Phoenix next season.

"This is the last thing I'm going to say about our coaching situation: Mike's my coach," Nash said. "So I expect to see Mike back here next year. And I know there's a lot of stuff going on right now, but Mike's my coach. I love playing for him. I expect to see him back in October."

I don't think Nash is delusional, I just think he was trying to say the right thing by endorsing his coach, and also trying to keep it positive in what are extremely uncertain times in the desert. I think if he were being completely honest though, he'd have to admit that at this point, D'Antoni's return as the Suns coach seems very unlikely.

Donnie Walsh has a difficult choice to make: does he hire Mike D'Antoni, who has a high-profile and a proven track record, or does he roll the dice on Mark Jackson, who has zero head coaching experience but is a local legend? According to multiple reports out of New York, Walsh is still undecided, which is somewhat baffling to me.

I like D'Antoni a lot, but both his coaching style and personality would be a disaster in New York. Frank Isola of the New York Daily News spoke with an unnamed coach who agrees with me:

"He doesn't emphasize defense and he's non-confrontational," said a coach who has worked with D'Antoni. "In New York you've got to have someone who is confrontational and can stand up to these guys. Scott Skiles would have been that guy. And I think Jackson is that guy as well. Mike is an innovative offensive mind but to me he just doesn't fit in New York."

Not only that, but the Knicks simply don't have the personnel to run D'Antoni's system. Sure, they have some athletic spare parts here and there, but so long as Zach Randolph and Eddy Curry are on the floor, no one will ever confuse the Knicks with the Phoenix Suns.

Warning: The following may not be safe for work and/or watching before lunch.



Shocking, I know: Shaq is both silly and not shy. I don't know the context, but I'm not sure any is needed. Why am I not surprised that TheDirty.com got their hands on this? (via BallHype)

Previously on FanHouse:
Arizona State Cuts Cheerleading Squad. Is TheDirty.com Responsible?
Dan Majerle Pictured With Underaged Girl Drinking at His Restaurant
Matt Leinert, Alex Smith Pics at TheDirty.com: the Future of Sports Media?
TheDirty.com Finds Another NFL Picture: Terrell Owens at the Bang Bus?

During the Suns' first round series with the Spurs, San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich went to a strategy that is as frustrating to watch as it must be for his opponents to play through: the "hack-a-Shaq." For those unfamiliar, this is where you can foul a player away from the ball (way, way away from the ball, like at the other end of the floor) and force him to shoot free throws.

While this strategy is perfectly legal -- and worked for the Spurs, since Shaq hit just 50% of his free throws and the Suns' offense was completely disrupted -- it's an abomination to the game of basketball, and takes away from the true nature of what the game is supposed to be about. Thankfully, David Stern agrees, and will have this rule on the agenda when the competition committee meets later this month.

Stern indicated he had a problem with "the idea that, 'Hey, look at me, I'm going to hit this guy as soon as the ball goes into play, even though he's standing under the other basket.' I think that conversation has been started again, by the media, by fans etc. We're going to look at it again."

Just because the league is going to look at this (much like the "leaving the bench during a fight" rule last season), doesn't mean that the rule will be changed. But by the commissioner himself stating that he thinks it's bad for the game, at least the seed has been planted for the competition committee to do something about it.

In news that can either be described as an anti-collusion effort or simple petty bitterness, the Globe and Mail reports that when the Suns granted Mike D'Antoni permission to speak to other teams about their head coaching positions, they had one condition. He is not allowed to speak with the Toronto Raptors.

Now, if the two teams were division rivals, this would be pretty self-explanatory. If they were conference rivals, even, I could see the inherent value. But as they play in different conferences, there are really only two options. The first is that Suns owner Robert Sarver wanted to make sure D'Antoni's buddy and Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo didn't benefit if he was in any way involved in D'Antoni's decision to ride out of the desert. This is not beyond reason, considering the personal and professional relationship between the two. Likewise, it prevents D'Antoni from hooking back up with Colangelo and re-instituting the "run and gun" which the Suns have decided to abandon, and succeeding with it where the Suns failed, however unlikely that may be. Better to just nip the possibility in the bud than to risk further embarrassment and attention to how quickly the Suns disintegrated when Sarver hired Steve Kerr.

But there's a more likely reason, after the jump.

First he was out. Then Steve Kerr wanted him to stick around.

Now it looks like he's on his way out again.

According to a report by KTAR in Phoenix, the Suns have granted head coach Mike D'Antoni permission to speak to other teams about their vacant head coaching positions, including the Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks.

And so the drama begins anew.

ESPN reported on Friday that Chicago was the most likely destination for D'Antoni if the lunch planned for that day between owner Robert Sarver, General Manager Kerr and D'Antoni did not yield an acceptable resolution. It would appear that it did not.

What this means for former MVP Steve Nash, former MVP Shaquille O'Neal, and MVP hopeful Amare Stoudemire will of course be of heavy debate this summer, particularly considering the offensive fireworks D'Antoni's system provided Nash and Stoudemire. Avery Johnson is allegedly a leading candidate for the Suns' gig if D'Antoni does move on.

Chicago is a tremendous choice for D'Antoni if he takes it, who can implement his run and gun style into a team of young, athletic players who already have solid defensive instincts in place. With Joakim Noah, Tyrus Thomas, and Andres Nocioni, he has a bevy of interior players that can get up and down the court, a serviceable point guard in Kirk Hinrich, scorers in Larry Hughes (well, kind of) and Ben Gordon (just go with me here), as well as a high draft pick, D'Antoni has the elements to build a winner from the wreckage.

The end of one era and the beginning of a new one in both Phoenix and ... somewhere else, yet to be decided.

I guess the phrase is ... "Don't let the depressingly unrealized potential hit you on the way out."

(HT: Bright Side of the Sun)

There's so much that's already been said. But just to recap: responding to the Western Conference Arms Race, the Suns gave up Shawn Marion and his potential cap-freeing opt-out for Shaquille O'Neal and his potential cap-killing $20 million contract next year. The hope (read: realigning of philosophical differences) from both Steve Kerr and Mike D'Antoni was that Shaq would provide defense and turn Amare Stoudemire into a freak of nature. The second happened, and the Suns actually played well.

How They Got to the Dance: By closing out the season 15-5. Bear in mind that this was immediately after the pro-Shaq trade folks had jumped off the bandwagon and well after the haters had gotten their public laughs in. Which is why their matchup against the Spurs seemed like the greatest first round set of all time. The Suns were better down the stretch than we will remember, folks.