Phoenix Suns Maggie Keane Charles in charge By the time Charles Barkley got to Phoenix in 1992, the Suns were undergoing major changes. Assistant Coach Paul Westphal became head coach. The team moved to the newly opened America West Arena (now Footprint Center). They even got new uniforms. Widely seen as a good team but not serious contenders, what the Suns really needed was something to up their game. Enter Charles Barkley. Will Novak, Valley native and lifelong Suns fan: As the story goes, Cotton Fitzsimmons, who was [moving] to the Suns’ front office at the time, literally said, “We need a player like Charles Barkley.” So they went out and traded for him. Lee Shappell, former Arizona Republic sportswriter: Why did the Suns get Barkley? Because they couldn’t get to the top. They were coming off of four straight years with Cotton Fitzsimmons as coach, and Kevin Johnson, Jeff Hornacek, Tom Chambers, Dan Majerle as the core guys. It was a very good team that won no fewer than 53 games for four straight years, but they couldn’t get to the [NBA Finals]. The Suns were known as a vanilla team, lacking toughness and playing a style that was fun to watch, but [they] couldn’t execute a half-court play in a playoff game to save their lives. Novak: I was a kid and Jeff Hornacek was my favorite player, so when they traded him [with Tim Perry and Andrew Lang], I was heartbroken. I cried and my dad was like, “Don’t worry about it.” Shappell: The new arena was already sold out for the season before they ever traded for Charles. They didn’t get Charles to sell tickets; they got Charles to bring home a championship banner. Tom Chambers, former Suns power forward: We had a bunch of good guys that played hard, played well. The style of the team changed a whole bunch, but certainly we were better once Chuck came to town. He added so much to the team. Shappell: They became more of a half- court team. They still had guys who could run and weren’t afraid to pull a fast break if there was an opportunity created off defense. And they could also bump, grind and throw it down in the low post. And Charles was a terrific post-up player, and if he caught the ball on the low block, he was either going to score, or get fouled or both. So that was new for the Suns. And so suddenly opponents had to double-cover that, and the Suns could get the ball to their three-point shooters: Dan Majerle and Danny Ainge, who they’d acquired and was a huge part of that team. Chambers: Charles was obviously the best power forward in the NBA, so my role [changed]. I had to play a little small forward, power forward, even some center, and find minutes. But I still played a vital role for the team. I wasn’t the star, but that was okay. The one thing I hadn’t done in my career was winning a championship. Al McCoy, longtime Suns play-by-play announcer: [Barkley] was the key. There were great players on that team and they were all contributors, but Charles certainly was the leader. I’d never followed a player that simply would not let his team lose. It was Charles’ greatest year. Charles Barkley, former Suns power forward (on the “All the Smoke” podcast in February): We get off to a slow start. So I’m with [then- Suns owner Jerry Colangelo] and I says, “Okay, this is the deal: We’re going to the finals. I think I’m the best basketball player in the world. We are going to the finals [and] we’re going to play the Bulls for the championship.” Suns fever spreads As Phoenix started winning, Suns fever began sweeping the Valley. Richard Dumas, former Suns small forward: That season was wild. It’s like every [home] game was a sellout. It was like a big party. Novak: Back then, some bigger regular season games would be on pay-per-view, which seems insane now. People would hold parties to watch pay-per-view games. They’d name their dogs Barkley or start naming their kids after players. Super Snake, former on-air talent, Power 92.3 (now Power 98.3): Power 92 made Suns signs. Every bus driver in Phoenix would stop at the station to get some to give [riders]. I kept stacks of ‘em in the car. Derek Montilla, Valley native and longtime Suns fan: Everybody was going all in on the Suns. They became absolute rock stars. It felt like Barkley brought so much of that atten- tion onto them, but obviously, a big part of it was just the fact the team was so good. Maggie Keane, local artist: I was a billboard painter and this company hired me to paint [city] buses with portraits of players. I did Barkley, part of Kevin Johnson, Tom Chambers and Dan Majerle. When I went to parties, people knew who I was because it was suddenly a huge thing with the Suns being so big and the buses out on the streets [daily]. Playoff problems Phoenix finished the 1992-93 season with the NBA’s best record at 62-20, earning home- court advantage throughout the playoffs. They almost blew it in the opening round against the eighth-seeded Los Angeles Lakers, though, losing the first two games of the best-of-five series at home. Barkley started to panic. Westphal kept his cool, famously declaring in post-game interviews Phoenix would bounce back and take the series. Chambers: Unfortunately, we didn’t rise to the occasion to take care of business in the beginning on the home court like we should have. Shappell: KJ got injured near the end of the season. That was a big piece of it. And the Lakers, even though they were nowhere near the “Showtime Era” from years prior, still matched up really well against the Suns and won two in Phoenix. Barkley (on “All the Smoke”): We play the Lakers. Kevin’s hurt. We lose the first two games at home, this best of five. After the game, we’re devastated. I’m like, “Damn, I’m in trouble right now. I gotta figure something out.” … The motherfuckers rush toward me, like 20 of them, [and say], “Did you hear what your coach said?” Shappell: It was a really ballsy state- ment. But if you had followed Westphal during the season, it really wasn’t that surprising. He was a lively, creative, unorthodox-thinking style of coach and would do a lot of unpredict- able things. And it worked Favorite Suns from p 13 >> p 16 Local artist Maggie Keane (center) with Dan Majerle (left) and Charles Barkley (right). The Phoenix Suns’ official team photo for the 1992-93 season.
