Ryan McDonough, the Phoenix Suns general manager, says that the struggling Western Conference ballclub's players were not responding to Jeff Hornacek prompting his dismissal as head coach of the team on Monday.

Hornacek, who was the NBA executive's coaching hire in 2013, was axed from his post after a 2-19 stretch, suffering 14 straight road losses that placed the Suns at the lowly rankings of the 15-team in the West at 14-35. It is the longest losing streak of the franchise since 1983-84 season. Their current win-loss record is also the Suns worst since the 1968-69 inaugural team's 16-66.

Like Us on Facebook

"The team wasn't responding to Jeff the way we felt they would," McDonough told Arizona Sports' "Doug & Wolf" show on Tuesday morning. The general manager also mentioned the injury issues. "We weren't as competitive as we hoped we would be so we decided to make a change."

Hornacek has established a record of 101-112 in his two -and- a-half seasons as Suns head coach. He is the fourth NBA coach to be sacked this season, joining David Blatt of the Cleveland Cavaliers,  Lionel Hollins of the Brooklyn Nets and Kevin McHale of the Houston Rockets.

According to ESPN, the coaching job has gone on an interim basis to Earl Watson, who at 36 becomes the youngest coach in the NBA. Watson lost his coaching debut 104-97 to the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday as the Suns dropped to 2-20 in their past 22 games.

It's a speedy rise for Watson, who retired as a player in 2014 after 13 seasons in the NBA with seven different teams. He was the 2001 NBA draft 39^th overall pick selected by the Seattle SuperSonics.

He became an assistant coach of the Austin Spurs of the NBA Development League in the 2014-15 season before Hornacek hired him as an assistant last July of last year.

Tagsjeff hornacek, phoenix suns, NBA news, NBA, ryan Mcdonough