Suns coach Alvin Gentry is entering his first full season as the team's leader.
ESPN's Marc Stein reports that Gentry has been very demanding of his players in training camp. He has focused on improving the team's defense and conditioning.
"One of the things we saw last year is that he really coached fearlessly," Suns president Steve Kerr said of Gentry.
"He's been around the league for so long now, and he understands how this works. I think he also has a sense of, 'I've got to nothing to lose.' So it's not a case of players like Alvin because he's soft on them. They like him because he's playing a style that the players like, but he holds them accountable. He's not babying them by any means."