The Phoenix Suns – The Early Years
The Phoenix Suns are a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They play in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
On January 22, 1968, the NBA awarded expansion franchises to a group of owners of Phoenix and one in Milwaukee.
The main investors in the Phoenix franchise at its inception had close ties to Tucson, the second largest city in Arizona. They were:
• Richard Bloch, an agent Southern California investment / real estate developer and former Tucson resident (no relation to the Richard Bloch who was the co-founder of preparing tax Professional H & R Block).
• Karl Eller, owner of a leading outdoor advertising and a leading Phoenix-area business most influential at that time. He was a football player at the University of Arizona;
• Donald Pitt, a Tucson-based attorney;
• Don Diamond, a real estate investor based in Tucson who eventually replaced Eller on the direction of the franchise.
All four were students at the University Arizona. According to the history section of the Suns website, other investors in the Suns included prominent artists such as Andy Williams and Henry Mancini.
According to the Suns website, the original logo was designed by Stanley Fabe, owner of a Tucson printing, for $ 200.
The new Suns ownership group hired former Chicago Bulls executive Jerry Colangelo to be general manager (he was 28 years old when he took office). Colangelo in turn hired Johnny "Red" Kerr (as I write this string 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 very few games. Cotton Fitzsimmons replaced Colangelo as Suns coach for the 1970-71 season. He led the team to its first winning season with a final record from 1948 to 1934.
Fitzsimmons would return to the position of head coach in late 1980, would be greatly loved by Suns fans, very popular (and successful) as a coach, broadcaster and executive with the organization Suns.
In the 1970s the Suns had a moderate success, combining the talents of players like 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 basketball version of real life Rocky. He finished the season with 42 victories and defeats 40, but surprisingly defeated the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors in the playoffs and went to play the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals, Celtics to give a tough battle before falling in 6 games. Game 5 was a triple-overtime classic that is considered by many as the greatest game in NBA history, with Suns forward Gar Heard hitting a buzzer beating rainbow shot ("The Shot") to send the contest in the third overtime at Boston Garden.
In late '70s and early '80s, the Suns enjoyed several successful seasons, reaching the playoffs for eight straight seasons. Problems arose, however, inside and outside the court, in the mid 80s. In 1987 the Office of the Maricopa County Attorney charged 13 people for drug charges, three of whom were players assets of the Suns (James Edwards, Jay Humphries and Grant Gondrezick). These accusations were based in part on testimony from star player Walter Davis, who got a waiver. N defendants never went to trial: two of the players went into a prosecution diversion program, while another received probation. However, the scandal, although already evident in many respects to be a witchhunt, tarnished the reputation of the franchise both nationally and within the community. The scandal led to an opening Colangelo to the general manager to lead a group that bought the team from its owners for $ 44 million, a record at that time.
With a drug scandal and the loss of promising young center Nick Vanos, who died in the crash of Northwest Airlines Flight 255 after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, the franchise was in turmoil on and off the court. Suns' luck began to turn around in 1987, however, with the acquisition of Kevin Cleveland Cavaliers Johnson, Mark West and Tyrone Corbin for popular power forward Larry Nance. In 1988, Tom Chambers came to Seattle as the first unrestricted free agent in NBA history, Jeff Hornacek a 1986 second selection round continued to develop, "Thunder" Dan Majerle was drafted with the 14th pick in the draft, they got Cleveland in the Kevin Johnson trade, and the team began a streak of playoffs in 13 years. Kurt Rambis was added from the Charlotte Hornets in 1989, and the team (coached by Fitzsimmons), in a shocking, beat the Lakers in five games before falling to the Portland Trail Blazers in the Western Conference Finals. In 1991, Suns stormed to a 55-27 record but lost in the first round to Utah Jazz 3-1. In 1992, the Suns to a 53-29 record in the regular season. While posted to four star players to the game in the last two years (Chambers, Johnson, Hornacek and Majerle), the Suns were ready to make a serious run at the NBA Finals. They showed their poise by sweeping the San Antonio Spurs in 3 games. But once again the Suns fell in five games to the Trail Blazers in the conference semifinals, however, the series was interrupted by an electrifying game 4, in which the Suns lost 153-151 in double overtime. The Suns were yet again denied a shot at a title, but in the next seasons enjoyed even greater success than ever.
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