Do the best where you’re at.

Kevin Young took heed to that advice early in his coaching career and still lives by it.

“That sounds like a simple direction, but when you think about, coaching, or any industry that you’re in, everybody is trying to move up,” he said back in April in a Philadelphia 76ers’ YouTube video.

“I feel like in the coaching world, it’s even heightened in terms of advancement and things like that. You get caught up in what your next job might be, but again, for me, the best advice I ever got was you know what, sink your teeth into what you’re doing where you’re at and try to be the best version in that particular role.”  

Young is now in Phoenix.

After four seasons as an assistant with the 76ers, Young has joined the Monty Williams’ coaching staff as the Suns announced the hiring last week.

Williams and Young worked together in Philadelphia under head coach Brett Brown in 2018-19.

The familiarity is there, but that’s not the only reason the Suns hired him.

Young is described in NBA circles as experienced, “battle tested,” a good coach and even better person. He coached offense while in Philadelphia, a team that featured all-stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.

He’ll likely play a role in further evolving Phoenix’s offense led by All-Star Devin Booker that emphasizes ball movement and player movement.  

The Suns no longer have three assistants who were on Williams’ first 2019-20 Suns’ staff – Steve Blake, Larry Greer and Darko Rajakovic, who joined the Memphis Grizzlies coaching staff last month.

They’ve hired two assistant in Young and Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Brian Randle.

Hiring one more assistant seems logical, but Phoenix managed to go 8-0 in the Orlando Bubble minus Blake and Greer. The Suns may not feel the need to add another.

Young, 38, interviewed for the 76ers head coaching job before the franchise hired Doc Rivers to replace Brown, who was fired. This could be considered a nice gesture, but Young must have made a strong enough impression on the franchise for it to even grant him an interview.

Plus Young served as the Sixers’ head coach at NBA Summer League in 2018. 

He started coaching in the then D-League that’s now the G League in 2007 before becoming head coach of the Utah Flash for the 2010-11 season.

Yes, the same Kevin Young who didn’t back down from NBA head coach Eric Musselman when he was coaching the Reno Bighorns. The two had a halftime confrontation at midcourt in Reno.

Now at Arkansas, Musselman has always been edgy, but Young has a little kick to him, too.

Young then replaced Nick Nurse and joined the Iowa Energy the following 2011-12 season.

Yes, the 2019-20 NBA coach of the year Nick Nurse of Toronto.

Nurse went to Rio Grande Valley at that time. Young was let go his second season in Iowa, but joined the 76ers G League affiliate, Delaware 87ers, in 2013-14 before becoming their head coach in 2014-15.

The 87ers are now the Blue Coats after changing their nickname before the 2018-19 season.

After two seasons as their head coach, Young joined the 76ers staff in 2016. This was all after his being a head coach of the Shamrock Rovers in the Irish Super League for the 2006-07 season.

So yes, he’s experienced, battle tested – and is on the same G League-NBA coaching path current NBA head coaches Quin Snyder (Utah Jazz), Taylor Jenkins (Memphis Grizzles) and Nurse took.

Young joins a staff that has another assistant, Willie Green, who has the look of a future NBA head coach, too. Having coaches on a staff with these aspirations gives the staff a more competitive spirit.

Sticking to that early advice has led Young to becoming an NBA assistant coach.

“The success that you have and the attitude that you have in that environment will hopefully lead to many other opportunities,” Young said.

His latest opportunity is in Phoenix.

“If there is one thing that’s held true for me in my coaching career is just that,” Young continued. “If you can get lost in what you’re doing, you treat every game like it’s Game 7 of the finals because whether you’re coaching, for me, in the Division III junior college, in lower levels of Europe, in the G League or the NBA, every game, as a competitor, feels like the most important game. That’s something that has always stuck with me.”

Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

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