EXCLUSIVE: Mat Ishbia Talks Future of Phoenix Suns & Mercury | Inside Basketball in the Valley

EXCLUSIVE: Mat Ishbia Talks Future of Phoenix Suns & Mercury | Inside Basketball in the Valley

Hey. Hey. Hey. We’re talking love and basketball today. Get that stuff out of here. It’s Southwest Bias. Welcome live into Southwest Bias from Studio K, brought to you by our friends at Circle K. Make sure to download the Circle K app today and become a member of the inner circle. And yes, today is a big day on the program. Shane wore a nice hat. No, we’ve got Matt Ishpia coming up in the second half of the program, but before we get there, I want to talk about basketball and why it’s so important here in Phoenix. It is our first love. It is the first team that ever graced the valley. 1968 in January, the Phoenix Suns were announced that they were going to be playing in the NBA come that fall. It was the first time that this city was going to be viewed more than just cacti and tumble weed. It wasn’t going to be viewed as, you know, a cowpoke town anymore. Pro sports was coming to Arizona. Major sports leagues were going to recognize the valley as a place that they could call home. We are moving to new offices next week. And in my new office, I can see the Coliseum right out the window. It is a reminder to me of what sports in this town means, of why we love the Phoenix Suns so much, why basketball is so important to each and every one of us, why we live and die with the Suns and Mercury wins and losses, why we argue amongst ourselves sometimes about what’s the best course of action to win. The Suns were here for 20 years before the Cardinals ever showed up. 30 years before the Diamondbacks and the Coyotes showed up. They will forever be what means the most to sports fans here. Other teams will come and go. Other things will will happen and other things will uh will bring passion and and cause, you know, excitement. But the Suns will always be the most important thing here. I take it very personally. The Suns mean a lot to me having grown up here. I remember my first games from back when I was six or seven years old, watching on TV, listening to the douls tones of Al McCoy. When things went wrong in my life, basketball was there. when things were great, basketball was there. I’ve cheered, I’ve cried, and I’ve cried happy tears as well. When it comes to basketball in Phoenix, we bleed purple and orange for both of our basketball teams for the simple reason that it means that much to us, that we care that much, that it is important to us every day, every season. Some some cities don’t understand it because they’ve been blessed with sports teams uh that that they’ve had their entire existence. Some people don’t understand it because they’ve had great success and championships galore. But it takes something special. It takes a special city and a special group of people to go through 50 plus years of ups and downs to watch your heart get ripped out and put back in time and time again. But this city is loyal to the Suns. It’s loyal to the Mercury because it is about that passion. It means something. Everybody has that story, right? Everybody has that story about how Sun’s basketball and Mercury basketball touched their lives, how basketball was important in a period in their their life that maybe nothing else was going right to me. I I got the opportunity to work for the team and that was a lifelong dream to be able to do that to get a be a co-orker of Al McCoy and be on his broadcast to be in that building and get to experience things to meet Charles Barkley and Tom Chambers and Paul Westfall and all the greats to get to watch Diana Terzi in person for watch that greatness that meant the world to me. But that’s not the moment that sticks out the most to me. It’s not It’s not being a kid and watching Charles Barkley capture the imagination of this team. The moment that will forever stick in my mind about being a Suns fan is the 2021 NBA Finals game two. Probably doesn’t mean a lot to anybody. Like overall it was the second game. shirt was a win, but my family out of pocket paid to get me in that building. Last row, we had just come out of CO. I wasn’t working in sports anymore. I had stepped away uh to be there to help help, you know, raise my daughter and they they gave me that ticket. I sat there by myself, right? Cost like 800 bucks to sit last back against the the wall at PHX Arena. But to me, that was one of my greatest moments as a fan because despite being there alone, despite having been isolated for months, you know, from the rest of the world, I didn’t feel alone at all. There were 18,000 of my closest friends in that building. And it didn’t matter religion, race, any belief system outside of believing in purple, the purple and orange, believing in basketball. And that will forever be one of my favorite sports memories. And that is why things matter so much for us when it comes to the Phoenix Suns. Why we look at it with a critical eye. Why we are so passionate about basketball in this town. Because it’s personal. It’s not just a sport. It’s not just something that we passively pay attention to. It’s part of who we are. It’s a part of the story of what the valley is. And without basketball, we aren’t the town that that we are. Without those greats that have come before this group of players on both of these teams, we aren’t who we are as a city. I love basketball. I know you love basketball. And I know it’s important for us to see both of our professional teams win. The Mercury are doing it. And I truly hope that the Suns can get there, too. Because basketball is Phoenix. Basketball is the thing that binds us in this town together. Even when we argue like siblings online, even when we don’t agree with the right path to go, it’s the thing that binds us together more than anything in Phoenix. But maybe that’s just my Southwest bias. I welcome in the mustache behind the Mac, Shane Defenbach. Shane, big day on the program because we got to hurry up and box up the studio. That and we’ve got Matt Espia, the owner of the Suns and the Mercury coming up. What does basketball mean to you? What does what does basketball mean to you, Shane Defb? Well, I have a I have a really big WC league game six days from today to start the season. Okay. So, I was out there getting shots up this morning at my local park. Hey, our our gu our guest still plays ball like that. You know, we’ve seen it. So, how does the shot look? Um, I I don’t really want to talk about it. Okay. Yeah, that’s fair. A lot of fatigue in my arms. Back was a little tight. You’re not old enough for that. That’s the problem. You’re You’re not my age. You can’t be saying that. That’s the problem. When’s the big game? Uh, Wednesday. All right. I I will be doing a live Southwest bias there. I will be calling playbyplay of the old man, the mustache behind the Mac. Uh, there. Look, we’re going to cut the first segment a little short because we know why you’re here. We know why you want to watch today. Uh, and we’re going to bring Matt Ishpia in uh, right after this break. You’re watching Southwest Bias. Stay right here. Got to tell you about our friends over at Circle K. Like I mentioned, we’re in Studio K. Uh, and there’s nothing more than I love going to Circle K, getting my morning caffeine. I I’m not a morning person, but they decided to give me a morning show, which is ironic. I’m the GM. I probably could have moved the time, but I need my caffeine before I come in. I stop at Circle K every morning. I grab that Coke Zero. I go to the register and guess what? Because I’m a member of the inner circle, they take care of me. Sometimes there’s a discount. Sometimes I get a discount on gas because I’m a member of the inner circle and you can be, too. All you got to do is download the Circle K app today for free. Enter your information and bam, just like that, you get to be part of it. You’re going to save 25 cents off per uh you know perh gallon when you sign up right for the first five Phillips. Then three cents off then you can hit the espo level. You can get 5 cents off plus you’re going to get 79 cents polar pops 99 cent frosters. It’s everything that you want. Uh join the inner circle today for free by downloading that Circle K app. Terms and conditions apply like everything in life at participating locations. Visit circlek.com for details. And then our friends at Hila River Resorts and Casinos, they’ve got a big thing coming up this weekend, right? We’ve got a big guest. They’ve got a big guest as well. They’ve got the Straight Game Podcast live this weekend hosted by Mike Bby, Eddie House, and Coach Ty Ellis. Oh, but that’s not the big guy that’s going to be there. Shaquille O’Neal, the big cactus, the big Aristotle. Shaquille O’Neal, former Phoenix Suns, will be out there telling you all the great stories, giving you uh all the insight that you want about his time in Phoenix, what it was like to play with Kobe, uh what it was like in Miami with D. Wade, uh maybe what it was like to be in Boston at the end of his career. I don’t know. We’ll probably talk about the TNT crew as well. So, uh tickets are at retail pricing when you purchase online or by phone, but discounts are available at the box office today at out at Wild Horse Pass. So, get yours. Be out there tomorrow or on Saturday. It’s going to be fantastic. August 16th. Uh we’re going to welcome in our guest here in just a second. He’s going to join us. Uh Matt Ishbia. Uh but Shane, I got to tell you a quick Shack story. Uh okay. You remember Shaq used to do Shack and Hunts? I actually won one of the first ones of those. Uh a buddy of mine, we were working on a website. He happened to be right there around the corner from us. We went there, got free tickets. Uh my friend is like 5’6. Shaq basically palmed his head in the photo. It was a lot of fun. That was way back in the day. Uh way back I was I was half the man I am now. Literally in pounds. I was half the man I am now. But uh we’re going to welcome in our guest, the owner and uh of the Phoenix Suns and the Phoenix Mercury, Matt Ishbia, live from Michigan, I believe. So, let’s welcome in Matt Ishbia here on the program. Matt, are you there? Maybe not. We’ll wait a few more minutes and see uh if he joins. I know he he had said 11:15, so we got a couple more minutes. But uh Shane, outside of the Wreck League game, you played uh AAOU ball. You have been in the Valley. I know your dad has connections with the old Seattle SuperSonics. uh basketball like if you if you could encapsulate your love for the game and why it’s so important to you. I mean I know it is because we experienced it when you were the uh you know you were the producer for the Phoenix Suns show that first year. Uh but what does it really mean to you? I mean it’s the it’s what it is with all of sports. It’s the love of the community around it. Um it it doesn’t even have to be specifically basketball. you you don’t have to look any further than the what the Coyotes meant to this city and and what I experienced there. Like it’s sports in general. They all have that that factor that you don’t get out of life anywhere else. It’s a reprieve from your everyday. It’s a it’s it’s not just entertainment. It’s it’s a different part of your life. Um and and so it it it’s it’s it’s hard to put in words. I mean, you talked about game two of the finals that year. I went to to the loss in game five. Um that’s and that’s the worst. Yeah. That’s the that’s the other side of emotion though. Yeah. Um the the feeling that I had after that game. Uh you again, you can’t get that from anything else. You don’t get that from everyday life. Like the that’s why it always baffles me when I talk to people who aren’t the biggest sports fans and don’t understand why and and assume it is just entertainment. It’s just a game. It’s like watching a movie or listening to me. It’s not. It’s so much more than that. You you drown so many hours and and passion into it, whether you you play or you’ve just been watching your entire life. Yeah. I mean, I think it’s also something that, you know, when you look at it, when you watch it, it mirrors life in some ways, right? I mean, every day is is an up and down. There’s there’s always something uh that happens or something that comes up that’s a challenge. And that’s I mean that’s just the reality of it when it comes to basketball and and life and I think that that’s why so many of us gravitate towards it as well. Matt Ishbia coming up in just a minute here on the program. Uh son’s media relations saying about 11:15 like we talked about. So when Matt gets here we’ll welcome him in for the typical Aspo jumping the gun too excited. I mean yeah I mean that’s the way it works usually. I I also I also love that there’s somebody one of the biased in the chat automatically going, “Oh, oh, this was just clickbait.” Yeah, I’m just going to sit here for 15 minutes. Uh just it’s going to be like It’s going to be like the baby that we interviewed or it’s just it’s just me. It’s just it’s just Shane. That’ll be what it is. Yeah, we bait and switch. There’s there’s no interview. Thank you for the hundreds of you watching now. Uh they said uh that they are on and ready. So, do we want to try uh to welcome in Matt Ishpia? Matt, are you there, my friend? Uh it looks like they are on mute right there. So we will uh work on the technical side of things. So hello says Eso being premature. Classic Espo. Uh so that is true in a way. Uh it’s funny that uh that we feel that way with that. Give me one second here. Uh yeah. So I can try to entertain the chat while you Yeah. Why don’t why don’t you entertain the chat for a second here as I’ve got Sun’s media relations on the on the phone here. We can go back to the sun. Maybe we can just we can get rid of Espo and I’ll just sit here um in the in the beautiful landscape. So, we are moving. Um somebody’s asking if the new location is decorated already. No, we’re doing that today um and and over the weekend. So, it should be a pretty busy weekend, but we’re excited. I I I really are you gonna throw me I I really I I love that uh that we are here looking at that. Uh see I this is great podcasting where I text uh text them. They’re going to hang up and try again here. I Buddha I’m ready for uh for the interview as well. Believe me is believe me. Is the chat saying that this is not what they wanted that this is here. Maybe they maybe Darth Vorta says, “We got to ask why Matt with only one T now. Now, how how do I get in this? Is this one better chat? Is this Is this keeping you entertained?” TJ says, “What’s the purpose of the move? Is F PHX growing?” No, we’re just growing up. We’re moving out of uh out of our loft here and into a real house here. Uh so I we’re trying to get this to work as well. Give me one second. I’ll go back to the sun again. We can just look here. Um, yeah, nothing like the sun here. Technical difficulties are always fun and it tests your ability because I’m going to tell you this. Uh, we prepared for this over the last couple of days and I full well expected that something would go wrong because two seconds before Shane hit live, he goes, “I hope something technical goes catastrophically wrong.” This isn’t catastrophic. I was more so talking as like the light fixture falling down and catching on fire. Well, I mean, that could still happen. We’ve got time, right? We We’ve got time. Uh yeah, I mean, we’ve got time here to to do this. Uh is there any way we can uh can do anything on our end there, Shane? Uh it just looks like they’re muted. Maybe a different device could work. I’m not sure. Uh, so let’s let’s throw it up here. See if if it gets here. Okay. See, uh, hello. Can you hear us? Hey there. Can you hear me? Yeah, we can. Matt, Greg Espazito, thanks for joining us on Southwest Bias. How are you? Great to be here. I’ve been listening to you. So, I don’t know what the technical difficulties are about everything last couple minutes. and uh excited to chat with you guys. Well, glad to have you here. And and look, uh I got to I got to ask you, earlier in August, there was something that came out uh that uh I I got to I got to ask, we need we need to get your your actual analysis on this. It was uh actually something you put out. It was this video of you in the UWM basketball game uh there. Uh can you break down this play? I mean, a heck of a spin move, but but what was what was the play? What were you thinking when it happened? Oh, you know, it’s just a fun game for charity that we try to raise some money for the local schools, and it’s only one time a year I play basketball right there. And I, you know, I’m too old to be out there with these young 20-year-old kids. So, I had to hook them a little bit, and then they came to try to get me, and I I got lucky with a little finish there, but it was good. It was a good time. Uh, but once again, raising money for kids and played with some old teammates from Michigan State against some 20-year-old kids that were pretty good. Can Can we be honest? Was it an offensive foul? 100%. I hooked him. I hooked him and I I I had his head, but they’re not I It was in my own gym. I don’t think they’re going to call it on me. I think I got the benefit of the doubt there. I mean, at least you’re at least you’re honest about it. I mean, we’re in the same age range or age bracket, not the same tax bracket, but uh if I did that, I’d be on I’d be in traction for like three days. Yeah. No, I was sore. It’s it’s I’m definitely not supposed to be playing basketball anymore, but it was fun to be there. And like I said, we had a lot of people there raising some money, so it’s it’s always a good time. And if I make a shot, I got to post it, I guess. Well, I got I got to ask, I mean, you’re you’re a father of a daughter. When you decided to to purchase the Suns, how important was it for you to also purchase the Mercury and keep uh you know, the the tradition of winning going with that franchise as well? Yeah. Well, it was critical uh you know, I bought the Suns and the Mercury. Obviously, everyone talks about the Suns, but the Mercury was a big part of it. Um, obviously the Mercury are having a great season right now, but it was a big part, you know, back then we were I think we were the worst team in the league, nine and 31 that year. And so, we we’ve made some some we’ve evolved and got the right team together, the right coach, right front office. We feel good about what they’re doing. And, uh, it’s it’s fun. And my daughter likes going, but my boys like it. It’s not just right. It’s everyone. I love basketball, whether it’s girls basketball, men’s basketball, kids basketball, all types of basketball. Well, Mercury are 19 and 12 right now, uh, and in good placement when it comes to the playoff race. What do you think’s making things work so well for this team? And how excited are do you see them succeeding right now? Yeah. No, I’m real happy with it. I think it’s been great just to see the, you know, the the the the blueprint to how to be successful there and what we’ve done. And, you know, for, you know, first it starts with the leadership. You know, you know, you have Nick Uran, the great GM and a coach, Nate Tibbitz, and they got great players, hardworking players. They play tough. Obviously, got Alyssa Thomas who’s a superstar, but Satu, Kalia Copper, I mean, we got great players, but the way they play, like if you watch the Mercury, you’re like, they play really hard. They play hard. They compete. And we’re going to hopefully do a lot of that with the Suns. We We basically started the Mercury two years earlier. The Suns are starting with that type of format. Now, going forward, we’re going to play hard. We’re going to play tough. Going to be a gritty type of team. and uh we’re going to build it the right way. Well, what what exactly do you think I mean you’ve talked a lot about the way you envision the Sun side working moving forward, but how has it worked uh on the Mercury side? How has it clicked and meshed so well that these three stars, this this bench that’s played so well and the coaching staff has kind of brought it all together? Well, I think the the the coaching staff at Proffs had a vision and identity of what we wanted to build and you saw the evolution was we were nine and 31, right? And then it’s like, okay, we built we had two legendary players, Diana and Britney Grryer, and we had to move on from that that strategy and we came in with a different type of player. Um, not just the three stars you’re talking about, but we also have a very good bench. We have a lot of young players. They play with energy. They play with toughness. We got shooting. Um, and they’re executing. Now we’re 19 and uh 12 right now and we have you know you know obviously 14 15 more games left to hopefully make a great playoff push and put us in the position to be one of the top couple seeds in the WNBA. My my daughter can’t decide on a favorite player. Is there is there a pitch that you can uh you can make to my 8-year-old about who who she should uh who she should adopt as her favorite Mercury player or should I just buy like 12 different jerseys? You know, you know, it’s tough. My daughter has the same thing. You know, she she everyone loves Alyssa Thomas because she does it all, right? But then people like some scoring and some athleticism from Clea Copper Satu’s like she can do a little bit of everything. She’s amazing. But then there’s some of the role players that you know I don’t know the role players. They’re great players that are doing great things. Um from Monique to Wickcom like all these different play. It’s hard. I can’t give you one. I I think there’s a lot of good options there. Uh and that’s our job is to hopefully put a fun team out there that it’s not only one player you think of. You like a lot of players out there. I I’m really glad it’s not just my daughter uh that can’t decide on uh on who to root for or who to make her favorite player because you’re right, it’s been fun. I talked about it last week that that I really feel like Phoenix basketball fans have been clamoring uh for a team like this and we’ve got one this summer and and that they need to get out there uh and support these ladies because it’s a brand of basketball that’s been extremely fun to watch. I want to shift gears a little bit, Matt. I was look reading your book, Running the Corporate Offense, earlier this summer and I came across a quote that I found very interesting. You said, “Trust is earned through actions by what you say and do on a daily basis.” And it’s pretty clear that Mercury fans uh have full trust in what you’re doing and what you’re trying to accomplish on that front. And I I was wondering because trust is very tough to come by in this market with sports fans. Uh what do you feel that you’re doing with your actions on a daily basis that should put Suns fans at ease to give you uh the trust that we feel Mercury fans are right now? Yeah. No, I feel the same. So with the Mercury and the Suns, it’s all being done the same way now. And so at the beginning with the Suns, obviously we had a good team. It’s like let’s put a little money behind them, let them make some decisions and go forward. It didn’t work very well with the Mercury. They were already at the bottom of the of the league at nine and 31. And so at that point, you know, if you look back to all the press conferences we’ve ever had, the only one I’ve gotten beat up on was when I hired Nate Tibbitz and Nick Urine. People thought that was bad hires. And those are the two best hires we’ve had, you know, from now looking back two years later how good these teams are. And so what I think is people might not like what they see or what they think because everyone loved the Kevin Durant trade. People love the Brad Beal trade. People loved a lot of these things and guess what? It didn’t work. What you’re going to see by my actions and our actions in Phoenix for the men’s and women’s team is consistency and running it the right way. And the right way means the type of players that we want that the city will be proud of. We aren’t going to win a champ. I’ve said it. I’m going to have the team for 50 years. I’m not going to we’re not going to win a championship probably 47 of those years, 48 of those years. Like that’s the way it’s going to go. But you are going to be proud of the team. Last year, the men’s team, it was not a team that people were proud of. It was a team that was not fun to watch. A lot of talent, not a lot of fun to watch, not a lot of success. You’re not going to see that anymore in Phoenix. And so, even with the Mercury, as we built the last couple years, the first year, uh, you know, we we weren’t very good. Last year, we were average. We made the playoffs. This year, you’re starting to see it come together, but we’re going to get better over the next two or three years. And hopefully, you’ll see that with the Suns as well, building it the right way and doing it every day from from what they’re doing right now. What are the Suns doing today on August 14th? the workouts that are doing, they’re getting better every single day. And we’re going to keep doing that on the men’s and women’s side. And the whole city of Phoenix will will understand that and trust me and our organization by our actions, but we’re going to continue to do it. Not just say we’re going to do it. Is winning I mean, it it feels like, but is winning a highly personal thing for you? I mean, uh, we take it as fans and as people who have grown up in this town as as something that is highly personal. I was talking about it to open the show that being a basketball fan in this town uh and being a Suns or Mercury fan in particular is in our DNA. It’s what binds us. Uh how important is is winning to you at a base level? Well, I love that’s what I love about Phoenix is everyone loves basketball so much and and obviously people uh are supportive of the Mercury and the Suns. The Mercury have won multiple champs before. The Suns have never won one. And so winning is all we talk about. So we’re clear being the best franchise in the WNBA and NBA in all of sports from the players view, the fans view, everyone’s view. And it’s not going to happen overnight. It’s not like everyone’s like, “Oh, just go ahead and do it.” You have to build it the right way and do it uh consistently day in and day out. And we’ve been doing that with the Mercury. And we’re not where we want to be, by the way. We’re not winning a championship right now. We have a chance obviously, but we haven’t like we are building it the right way. And we’re going to do the same thing with the Suns. And everyone’s going to be proud of that. And it’s going to be how we’re doing it going forward. And so the way like winning is extremely personal and we will win. Like we will win here and people can question it. People can say what they want to say. But the truth is um you’re not going to ever question our intentions or my intentions. You’re never going to question do we care? Oh that owner doesn’t care. Like you’re never going to question do we want to spend money? Do we want to be involved? Do we build facilities? Do we put the Ring of Honor up like the fans want? Like we do everything around winning and around what the fans want. Um because I’m a fan too and we’re going to do exactly what fans want. Doesn’t mean we’re gonna win every year and sometimes we’re going to make trades or draft picks or free agents that aren’t going to work out, but you know what? We’re going to try to win and we’re going to try to compete every day. You guys have talked a lot about alignment, vision, and identity. But beyond beyond those words, what what does that really mean for for you for this franchise and and moving forward? What is alignment, vision, and identity mean to you? Well, you got to have an identity of what is Sun’s basketball about, right? What are we going to stand for? What are we going to be on the court? Right? From the way the players treat the fans, walking off the f walk off the court high-fiving players or throwing them a wristband, right? From the way players treat each other. Are we great teammates? Do we do things when our guys on the ground? Do we pick them up? Like if you watch the summer league, you could start to see some of the things that were starting to put in place with the way the bench was interacting, the way the players cared about one another, the way the whole team flew out there to support uh each other and be there. Like there’s certain things that that’s what the right way. Like people are like, “Oh, that’s the way the Suns are going to do.” Like it’s just the right way. If you run, if you’re involved with middle school basketball, high school, college, and like the right way of doing things for the WNBA and NBA, we’re going to do it the right way in Phoenix. And so the identity is going to be around toughness. It’s going to be around grit. We’re going to play hard. Like our guys are not going to be uh the last guys diving on the court. We’re going to dive for the ball. Maybe bloody your chin a little bit. It’s okay. And you know what? We’re going to we’re going to we’re going to play tough. We’re going to There’s going to be things that And then the way that you say alignment, people like to joke about the word. The thing is I can say it and then BG Brian Gregory’s got to say it and Jordan’s got to say it, but you actually got to see it on the court. So alignment means it can’t be just Matt says one thing and they do another thing like all the way through the organization. And if people don’t believe in it, it’s fine. It doesn’t mean I’m right and they’re wrong. Just means they’re not going to be on our team. Just means not going to be part of our organization. And you’ve already seen us make those changes. So if they’re not bought in, that’s cool. They just can go buy in another team. There’s 29 other NBA teams. I I want I I’ve wondered this and wanted to ask in terms of you know you’ve talked about your involvement and how important it is for you to set that tone from the top and people have have bristled at that in in some places but to me uh you are somebody that is highly invested in this. Isn’t that pretty typical in any business that the guy at the top is supposed to set the tone and that that is part of the involvement from word one? Absolutely. Absolutely. And that and that’s not gonna that and and and the truth is I wasn’t involved enough at the beginning. I was not involved with making these decisions about what we’re about. I just said, “Hey, listen. We’re a good team. Here’s I’m going to uncap your luxury tax concern. Let’s go try to win. Like let’s go do.” But now on the other side of it, let’s think of all the things for the fans. Like people want to just talk about on the court, how many games we win, which was, you know, disappointing last year to say the least. But all the other aspects, I’m heavily involved with those things. Like I said, I said Amari Starttomire, Shawn Marian, Ring of Honor, building it the right way, getting the banners up for the for the women as well. Like those are just little things like how do we create a women’s uh practice facility, a new headquarters, all these things matter, but on the court matters, too. And so I’m going to be involved, of course. And if people don’t want me involved, guess what? They’re not going to want to cheer for the Suns and the Mercury because now I’m involved. You know what? The first couple years we tried doing it a little differently. Now I’m going to do it the way I believe, which is I’m going to trust my instincts. I’m going to get great people. We’re going to set a vision and we’re going to execute consistently. We’re not going to win every game, but we’re going to do it the right way that the fans will be proud, the city of Phoenix will be proud, and eventually we’ll win championships here in Phoenix. Obviously, Michigan State uh University is a big part uh of your life and your story. What is it about MSU and the ISO mindset that’s important to you and kind of instilling it here in Phoenix as well? Well, yeah, I won’t even say it’s the ISO mindset. Like, I love Tom Isizo and what Michigan State’s done, but Michigan State has a brand. Like I said at one of my press conference said you you when you talk about Michigan State basketball, go ask 50 college basketball coaches what do they feel when they play Michigan State. They’re like, “Oh, they’re going to be tough. They’re going to they’re going to rebound. They’re going to do they’re going to be in transition. They’re going to run. There’s certain things. The type of kid that goes to Michigan State’s not going to not going to have these types of problems. You know what they are? They’re going to usually get better every year. Player development. Pittsburgh Steelers football. They have an identity, right? There’s a lot of different like so I don’t know and I don’t know the Pittsburgh Steelers at all. I don’t know those people at all. I’m just giving examples. when you hear about certain teams and organizations, there’s an identity. Phoenix Suns are going to have that. We don’t have that right now. I don’t, you know, we are going to have that going forward. And so, um, it’s not going to be like just like Michigan State. People like, oh, it’s going to be like Michigan State, you know, but it’s going to be winning. And we’re going to figure out how winning. And it’s not winning on the court only. It’s off the court. It’s doing it the right way. And there’s a lot of stuff from Michigan State we’re stealing. And there’s a lot of stuff that Michigan State does that we won’t like. And there’s a lot of stuff that other NBA teams that we love, and we’re going to steal that stuff. And there’s teams that other NBA teams we don’t like. We’re not gonna steal that stuff. It’s we’re gonna try to find it and find out the Phoenix Suns way. And that’s what my job is as the owner and the leader of the organization and it’s gonna go through everyone and we’re gonna be aligned all the way through. Last one here, Matt. NBA All-Star game coming in 2027. Do I send my application to you to be part of the celebrity game or is there somebody else I have to send it to? You you can send it to me for sure. I’d love to have you there. I don’t I actually don’t pick those people. I think the NBA handles it. But uh hopefully the best part is like we talked about coming away the WNBA All-Star game. I think it was the best WNBA All-Star game of all time last year in Phoenix. Okay, we’re going to do the same thing with the NBA All-Star game in 2027, bringing millions of people uh to watch and see the what I think the epicenter of basketball, which will be Phoenix. That’s what it’s going to be and that’s how we’re going to build it in Phoenix. And so I’ve said those things and like you asked me about the quote, we’re going to consistently do it and it’s going to not be just by me telling you it, but it’s going to be our actions. And by the way, if people don’t like what we say, that’s fine. You’re going to see what we do every single day. And if you don’t like that, that’s fine, too. But we’re going to be consistent with it, and we’re going to do it what we think is the right way going forward. Well, Matt, we’ve enjoyed what you’ve had to say today. We really appreciate you taking the time and joining us on Southwest Bias, and we look forward to seeing you out here at a Mercury game soon. Yeah, I look forward to it. And sorry that the video stuff at all didn’t work great, but next time we’ll get it right, and I that’s probably on our side. I apologize, but appreciate you and all that you do and the support for the Suns and the Mercury. It means a lot to me. No problem. And I blame I blame our producer Shane for the tech problems. It’s all him, not you guys. So, thanks so much, Matt. Thank you. That is another edition of Southwest Bias in the books. Definitely my fault, by the way. It was 100% your fault. You did not prepare Matt Ishpia, on that, and I blame you wholeheartedly. Plus, I was not kidding when I said 2 minutes or 2 seconds before we went live. It wasn’t catastrophic. You said you said I hope something technically catastrophic happened and we got that. Was not catastrophic. So, that is that is fantastic. Oh, there’s a fire starting in here. Oh, great. Yeah, we’ve got we got to pack up. We’re off tomorrow because we got to move this entire studio to a new building. So, we will be doing that. Uh, I really appreciate Matt Ishbia stopping by. I appreciate all the biased in the chat, the new people that stopped by. Even Adam Mars from DNVR, a Nuggets fan, stopped by uh to join the conversation. We appreciate each and every one of you. Please hit that like button before you head out. Subscribe. We’re going to have more interviews like this, more topics. We’re going to bring you everything that you love about Phoenix sports. That’s what this show is about. What you love about Arizona sports, that’s what this show’s about. Uh for the mustache behind the Max, Shane Debbach, you can follow at Shane Dee. You can follow the show at phnx_ports and you can follow me at Aspo. And remember, basketball’s our first love. Doesn’t matter we don’t doesn’t mean we don’t get mad at it sometimes. Ohoy hoy.

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The sport of basketball is so important in the Valley, why do the Phoenix Mercury and the Phoenix Suns mean so much? From Devin Booker, formerly Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Jalen Green to Alyssa Thomas, Satou Sabally and Kahleah Copper, how much do they mean the community? What is Mat Ishbia doing on to earn back the trust of Phoenix Suns fans?

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0:00 – Intro
1:00 – Why basketball is so important in Phoenix
20:00 – Mat Ishbia Joins

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