Phoenix Suns

The Phoenix Suns are a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). more...

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Current Record

54-28 (2005-2006)

1st in Pacific Division.

Playoffs

• Best of Seven Series vs. Lakers; Suns won series 4-3
• Western Conference Semifinals: vs. LA Clippers; Suns won series 4-3
• Western Conference Finals vs. Mavericks; Lead series 1-0

next game: Friday, May 26 5:30pm at Mavericks TV: TNT

Home arenas

Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum (1968-1992)

US Airways Center (formerly America West Arena) (1992-present)

Franchise history

The early years: a Tucson connection

On January 22, 1968, the NBA awarded expansion franchises to an ownership group from Phoenix and one from Milwaukee.

The primary investors in the Phoenix franchise at its inception had close ties to Tucson, Arizona's second largest city. They were:

• Karl Eller, owner of a major outdoor advertising company and one of the Phoenix area's most influential business leaders at that time. He was a former football player for The University of Arizona;
• Donald Pitt, a Tucson-based attorney;
• Richard Bloch, a Southern California investment broker and former Tucson resident.
• Don Diamond, Tucson-based real estate investor who eventually replaced Eller on the ownership managing team.

All four men were alumni of The University of Arizona. According to PHOENIX Magazine, other investors in the Suns included prominent entertainers such as Andy Williams.

Of note is the fact that at the time, it was said that Phoenix civic and business leaders were not actively seeking to attract a professional sports franchise.

The new Suns ownership group hired former Chicago Bulls executive Jerry Colangelo to be general manager (he was 28 years of age when he took the position). Colangelo in turn hired Johnny "Red" Kerr (as of this writing a broadcaster with the Bulls) to be the first head coach of the Suns. Kerr was forced to resign midway through the 1969-70 season, and Colangelo himself coached a few games. Cotton Fitzsimmons replaced Colangelo as Suns coach for the 1970-71 season. He took the team to their first winning season, with a final record of 48-34.

Fitzsimmons would return to the head coaching job in the late 1980's; he would go on to be greatly loved by Suns fans, wildly popular (and successful) as a coach, broadcaster and executive with the Suns organization.

In the 1970s the Suns experienced mild success, combining the talents of such players as Dick Van Arsdale (The Original Sun), his twin brother Tom Van Arsdale, Hall of Famer Connie Hawkins, Len "Truck" Robinson, Alvan Adams, and center Neal Walk. In 1976, the year the movie Rocky was released, the Suns proved to be a real-life basketball version of Rocky. They finished the season with 42 wins and 40 losses, but shockingly they beat the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors in the playoffs and went on to play the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals, giving the Celtics a tough battle before falling in 6 games. Game 5 was a triple-overtime classic that is considered by many to be the greatest game in NBA history.

Read more at Wikipedia.org