Mike Budenholzer's brief time as coach of the Phoenix Suns came to an end on Monday as the franchise fired the veteran coach after one season at the helm. As is often the case when a coach is dismissed following a disappointing season, reports almost immediately began to emerge that painted a picture of how and why things went wrong over the course of the year. One such report does not shine a positive light on Bradley Beal.
Per national NBA insider Chris Haynes and Phoenix radio host John Gambadoro, Budenholzer asked Beal to model his game after another superstar who sacrificed opportunities for the greater good— Jrue Holiday. Holiday went from the Milwaukee Bucks' second-leading scorer to the Boston Celtics' fourth-highest scorer in 2023–24. Instead of bemoaning a lack of touches, Holiday maximized his opportunities while focusing on impacting other aspects of the game. It's the most recent (and one of the most successful) examples of a star player accepting a lesser role in order to win, and it worked out as Holiday earned his second ring with Boston last spring, along with another gold medal in the summer Olympics.
