NBA | News & notes

Suns hire Hornacek: One of the most popular Phoenix Suns players from the franchise’s past will guide the team to an uncertain future.

At the news conference on Tuesday announcing his hiring as Suns coach, Jeff Hornacek spoke at length about his readiness for the job and the influences that will guide him.

“I’ve always felt that I’ve been a coach,” he said. “My dad was a coach, so I’ve been around basketball since I was 5 years old.”

Hornacek played the first six of his 14 NBA seasons with the Suns. He was traded to Philadelphia in the Charles Barkley deal, then went to Utah, where he found great success as the backcourt teammate of John Stockton. Hornacek retired from playing to spend more time with his family, then eased into coaching, first as a shooting instructor in Utah, then since 2011 as a full-time assistant with the Jazz.

His coaching style, he said, would be heavily influenced by his days playing for Cotton Fitzsimmons in Phoenix and Jerry Sloan in Utah.

“Hopefully, I can take Jerry’s toughness, Cotton’s enthusiasm and confidence-building and blend them together,” Hornacek said, “and become a great coach like some of the great coaches that have been here in the past.”

He went through a “who’s who” list of the best Suns players in the past, from Gar Heard to Walter Davis, Alvin Adams, Kevin Johnson, Barkley and Steve Nash.

“There’s been great success here over the years,” Hornacek said.

But the Suns never have won an NBA title, and things have gone from mediocre to far worse the last couple of seasons. Hornacek inherits a team that went 27-55 last season, the worst record in the Western Conference and second-worst in Suns history. Only the team’s inaugural season of 1968-69 was worse.

Hawks hire Budenholzer: The Atlanta Hawks have named longtime Spurs assistant Mike Budenholzer as head coach.

General manager Danny Ferry called on his past experience with San Antonio to select Budenholzer to replace Larry Drew as coach. Drew’s contract expires in June following three seasons as coach.

The Hawks have scheduled a news conference for Budenholzer today in Atlanta.

The Hawks say Budenholzer will continue serving as the Spurs’ top assistant through the NBA finals.

Sale of Kings approved: The NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved the sale of the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday to a group led by TIBCO Software chairman Vivek Ranadive.

The league said in a statement that the “transaction is expected to close shortly.”

After owners blocked the relocation of the franchise to Seattle earlier this month, the Maloof family reached an agreement to sell a 65 percent controlling interest in the Kings to Ranadive’s group at a total franchise valuation of $535 million. Ranadive, who will have to sell his minority stake in the Golden State Warriors, becomes the NBA’s first Indian-born majority owner.

Associated Press