From the outside, it seemed like Earl Watson's transition from Phoenix Suns interim head coach to Suns full-time coach was a smooth one.
Suns general manager Ryan McDonough said the team didn't conduct any formal interviews with any other potential head coaching candidates, and Watson's hire was made just six days after the 2015-16 regular season ended.
Easy peasy -- right, Earl?
"I wish it was that easy," Watson said Tuesday after he was formally introduced as the Suns' full-time coach. "As we sit over here -- and it's great to sign the contract -- it wasn't as easy as they made it sound.
"It was probably easier for them than it was for me as far as going through it, but not as easy for them either because they had to do their work and do intel reports, and figure out what was the best choice moving forward to lead this organization."
The 36-year-old Watson said he went through three separate interviews for the position. One of those interviews was over six hours long.
"I was just so exhausted," he said. "The process of trying to figure out how to be creative with a fluid roster, battle injuries and win games and change mindsets, build younger players, having training camp in practice, and then going through interviews at the same time -- it was a lot."
But if Watson was mentally fatigued Tuesday, he showed no signs of it.
"It was a lot, and it was very mentally exhausting, but I just did the best I could and tried to stay as fresh as possible and get a lot of rest," he said.
