The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Based out of Phoenix, Arizona and established as…
The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Based out of Phoenix, Arizona and established as an expansion franchise of the NBA back in 1968 by Robert Sarver’s ownership group (who also owns WNBA Phoenix Mercury). Playing out of Talking Stick Resort Arena.
The Phoenix Suns are the sole professional sports team based in Phoenix and Arizona, joining Milwaukee Bucks as one of two NBA franchises competing in Western Conference. They were the inaugural major franchise to enter in 1968.
In its inaugural year, the Phoenix Suns was met with mixed success. Winning 48 games and qualifying for the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers in a best-of-seven series, their second season saw much greater success, winning 62 games with Boston Celtics winning their playoff series and taking two out of three matches before ultimately succumbing in 1978 to defeat by Philadelphia 76ers 3-0 in four.
After the 1969-70 season, the Suns relocated to America West Arena (commonly referred to as “Purple Palace”). Their success at their new venue allowed for major roster adjustments – most notably Charles Barkley joining. Furthermore, with improved fortunes came hiring Jerry Colangelo, former player scout for Chicago Bulls before being appointed their GM/coach himself.
After this success, the Phoenix Suns maintained a successful track record and reached the playoffs regularly over the next decade. In 2009-10, an emerging Suns team including All-Stars Steve Nash and Amar’e Stoudemire went on an extraordinary postseason run that ultimately culminated in losing to Los Angeles Lakers in Western Conference finals.
At that time, the Suns were known for their dynamic plays and high-scoring offense. To take advantage of fast break situations more efficiently and get points into their basket quickly quickly without giving opponents time to regroup or prevent easy points, they instituted the “7 seconds or less” fast break system to increase scoring opportunities quickly and create quick turnovers that made opponents difficult for easy points.
Early Suns games were broadcast by legendary announcer Al McCoy. His folksy and humorous style of calling the action won him fans across Arizona, the Southwest and beyond; he continued broadcasting Suns games until retiring in 2007.