“NBA Playoffs: The Phoenix Suns”

July 8, 2021

“The Fourth of Four Profiles of the 2021 NBA Final Four”

Los Angeles, California - With the Phoenix Suns dispatching of the Los Angeles Clippers in six to advance to the NBA Finals, they hope to do better against the Milwaukee Bucks this time than they did in 1969.  No, those teams did not play one another in the ’69 finals, the Lakers played that team with the green jersey’s that year, you know, the team from the Northeast that had a disproportionate advantage by virtue of a regional draft and absence of free agency…yep, the Leprechauns.  

In March of 1969, the Suns and the Bucks “faced” one another on a phone call, where a flip of a coin would determine who would get the first pick in the draft.  The winner would get to draft the collegiate player that had led UCLA to an 88-2 record and three NCAA championships.  Lew Alcindor, who would change his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and go on to be the top scorer in the history of the NBA, would immediately change the fortunes of the team he played for.  

Heads or Tails?  What do you answer when that question comes your way?  Come to think of it, who even carries coins anymore?   The Suns called heads.  NBA commissioner J. Walter Kennedy flipped the coin in the air.  It was tails.  The Bucks won the NBA championship in 1971.  The Suns have yet to win one.

The Phoenix Suns (est. 1968, Zero NBA Champions):

When the city of Phoenix was awarded an NBA franchise in 1968, they became the first major professional sports team in the state of Arizona.  The Arizona Republic newspaper ran a contest to determine the team name.  Predatory creatures of the area like Scorpions, Rattlers and Thunderbirds were among the finalists.  But, considering what can do the most damage to an opposing team, it was the ultraviolet rays of the Salt River Valley sun that won out, and so the “Phoenix Suns” were born.

The sun has always played a big part in the history of Phoenix.  It would be a war veteran from South Carolina and an athlete from Southern California that would, 100 years apart, put the place on the map. 

The warm weather and agricultural possibilities attracted a Civil War Confederate veteran named Jack Swilling, who is credited with founding the area in 1867.  He wanted to name the city “Stonewall” after the Confederate General Stonewall Jackson, but a local paper had already begun to refer to the city as the immortal bird from Greek mythology that “rises from the ashes”, so “Phoenix” it was.  Drugs, alcohol and sun exposure eventually caught up with Swilling, who died in jail awaiting trial for a highway robbery.  

“The Valley of the Sun” began to catch on as nickname for the area in the 1930’s when the term was used to promote population and economic growth, and over the subsequent decades, Phoenix was booming.

A century after Swilling founded the city, a sun-tanned Californian named Paul Westphal led the Suns to their first ever NBA Finals.  A five-time NBA All-Star, Westphal had previously won an NBA championship with that aforementioned team in green in ’74.  Westphal and his Sun exposed teammates lost in six to the Leprechauns, but basketball was now entrenched in the city. 

Jerry Colangelo, the general manager of the Suns from 1968 to 1995, was considered the “Godfather” of sports in the desert, bringing not only basketball but baseball and hockey to the Valley.  Colangelo bridged the gap from inception to the ’68 NBA Finals to the rebuild of the franchise and another trip to the finals in 1993.  He also led the team from playing in the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in the early years to opening what is now called the Phoenix Suns Arena in 1992.  He even got his associate, Frank Sinatra , aka “The Chairman of the Board”.  That’s right, "Ol’ Blue Eyes” performed there in 1993.

1993 was a very good year for the Suns.  They jumped on the ample but strong back of league MVP Charles Barkley and rode into the NBA Finals for the second time in team history.  This time they would be denied not by a Leprechaun, but by “The Man”, as in Michael Jordan.  The Bulls won the series in six, but that didn’t stop 300,000 Phoenicians from celebrating the season at a post-series rally in 105 degrees.   

There must be something in the sun that has benefitted Al McCoy, the teams play by play announcer since 1972.  McCoy has now entered his 49th year as the teams announcer, surpassing the mark that the great Chick Hearn set with the Los Angeles Lakers.  “Shazam!” 

If any person on the street, across America, where asked to name the most iconic Phoenician ever, one that embodied the city and all its charm, who would that be?  Sure, Barry Goldwater (1909-1998) is a lock for first place, but a solid second goes to “Go”, the Suns the Mascot Hall of Fame inductee “Gorilla”.  

For the first 11 years, the Suns did not have a mascot, but then a Gorilla working for a singing telegram service stepped on the court in 1980 and the NBA has never been the same.  Sure, you’d think a Gorilla would be uncomfortable in the desert sun, but this is no ordinary Gorilla.  Wether performing a spectacular dunk or running the stairs in a “Rocky” parody, the Gorilla proudly upholds the standard set by Goldwater.

As the Suns embark on this years NBA Finals, will the third time be the charm?  Or will it be like one of those State Farm commercials where something wacky happens to Chris Paul?  Can the Sun fans even trust a guy with two first names?  

Perhaps it is finally time they overcome the coin flip of ’69 and push the Suns to the top of the NBA sky.

• Denny Lennon is the host of the Video Podcast, “Sports Stories with Denny Lennon” and the “Preps To Olympians” Live Show, available on YouTube and LA36 CableTV in Los Angeles County.

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