Former Tokyo Apache head coach Bob Hill is back in the NBA after almost a decade's absence in which he worked several coaching stints around the globe.

Hill accepted a job as an assistant with the struggling Phoenix Suns, and was on the bench on Tuesday for their first game with Earl Watson as interim head coach. The Suns fell to the visiting Toronto Raptors, 104-97, dropping their fifth straight game.

The Suns twice shook up their coaching staff in recent weeks, firing assistants Jerry Sichting and Mike Longabardi on Dec. 28, and then dismissing bench boss Jeff Hornacek on Monday.