Tom Izzo is an honest person and that’s what everyone loves about him. He will tell it like it is and he doesn’t often keep secrets. So when he appeared on the Dan Patrick Show on Wednesday, he didn’t think twice about sharing the fact that he flirted with an NBA opening last year.
No, that’s not a typo, then-70-year-old Tom Izzo was apparently in talks with an NBA franchise about their head coaching position, but the team isn’t all that surprising.
Famously, Izzo turned down the Cleveland Cavaliers job which Spartan alum Dan Gilbert offered him and he nearly accepted. He held a press conference to announce that he wasn’t going anywhere and was a Spartan for life.
Since then, he’s probably gotten numerous offers, but he’s never truly considered one until last year when Mat Ishbia and the Phoenix Suns were looking for a head coach.
Izzo said that Ishbia asked him about taking the job and he seriously considered and the Hall of Famer admitted that it was hard to turn down. He also admitted that they talked “seriously” about it.
Michigan State HC Tom Izzo reveals he was in talks with the Phoenix #Suns:
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) April 1, 2026
"I've had more than a couple job offers in the NBA, looked at one last year with Phoenix – my former player Mat Ishbia. That was hard, that was a hard thing to turn down... we talked seriously about it." pic.twitter.com/kjSIJreIWz
The conversation began when Patrick asked Izzo what advice he gave to Dan Hurley when he was offered the Lakers’ head coaching job, and he told the two-time national champion (potentially soon-to-be three-time champ) that he didn’t want to lose him but he basically wouldn’t blame him.
Then Izzo said that if he was in Hurley’s shoes at his age, he doesn’t know what he would do.
And then the shocking admission that he was courted by Ishbia and the Suns last year. I’m not sure that this was truly publicized, other than a quick mention of a conversation by the New York Times, but now it’s out there. It’s probably best that this never got out because I’m not sure the fanbase could’ve handled that news after getting back to the Elite Eight.
Fortunately, Izzo decided against it and the Suns hired Jordan Ott.
Tom Izzo has one thing on his mind
My guess is that Izzo humored Ishbia because he respects him and didn’t want to just laugh off an NBA head coaching opportunity, but the Hall of Famer truly has one thing on his mind.
Izzo wants No. 2.
There’s just absolutely no way this man is leaving for a job at another level when he’s been chasing that elusive second national title to really cement his legacy as one of the all-time greats (more so than he is now) for 25 years. He’s not just going to throw all that hard work away, especially after turning the program back around, to leave for the NBA at the age of 70. Not happening.
Izzo wants that second national title more than anything, and with the Final Four being in Detroit in 2027, he’s going to do everything in his power to get there.