D'Antoni is a strong possibility, and certainly deserving.
Still, it takes a while to get all the Sarver stink scrubbed off the franchise and correct all the things he ignored.
Do you know if Jerry has ever come out and said anything regarding Robert Sarver, or selling the team to him in the first place?
I'm sure he regrets it. If he had known his health would have been as good as it has been he probably would have held on to the team longer and would have done a better job vetting the prospective owners. But Jerry isn't really one to come out publically and bash people.
Besides, Steve Kerr is the one who vouched for Sarver. He's the one we should blame for that mess.
Author of The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts
Available from Scarecrow Press at - https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780810890695
I found this somewhat interesting, although Career Win Shares rewards long careers (A.C. Green, Chandler, Young) and penalizes players with relatively short careers (Amar'e, Westphal, KJ). Also, some of these guys (Shaq, Carter, J. O'Neal) were only Suns long enough for a cup of coffee.
Some interesting "What if?" players on this list who suffered injury problems that curtailed their careers - Amar'e, Westphal, KJ, Adams, and of course two of the biggest "What if?" stories ever, Grant Hill and Connie Hawkins.
Career Win Shares for Suns players -
Chris Paul - 208
Shaquille O'Neal - 182
Charles Barkley - 177
Kevin Durant - 169
Jason Kidd - 139
Steve Nash - 130
Vince Carter - 125
Shawn Marion - 125
Larry Nance - 110
Jeff Hornacek 109
Tyson Chandler - 102
Grant Hill - 100
A.C. Green - 99
Kevin Johnson - 93
Amar'e Stoudemire - 93
Clifford Robinson - 90
Michael Finley - 85
Joe Johnson - 83
Dennis Johnson - 83
Paul Silas - 80
Tom Chambers - 79
Dan Majerle - 79
Stephon Marbury - 77
Walter Davis - 77
Connie Hawkins - 77
Gail Goodrich - 76
Dick Van Arsdale - 75
Alvan Adams - 73
Thaddeus Young - 72
Danny Ainge - 72
Hot Rod Williams - 71
Maurice Lucas - 70
Paul Westphal - 68
Jermaine O'Neal - 66
And as great as he was, Chris Paul's career is quite possibly underrated. His career WS is behind only Kareem, Lebron, Wilt, Karl Malone and Jordan, and just ahead of Stockton, Duncan and Nowitzki.
Here's the top dozen in Win Shares with the Suns -
Shawn Marion - 93
Kevin Johnson - 91
Steve Nash - 83
Alvan Adams - 74
Amar'e Stoudemire - 68
Walter Davis - 66
Dick Van Arsdale - 64
Larry Nance - 54
Dan Majerle - 52
Paul Westphal - 51
Charles Barkley - 44
Jeff Hornacek - 44
Alvan Adams is the only one to play his entire career as a Sun. KJ, Majerle and Westphal are the only others to finish their careers here (Majerle and Wesphal had been traded away but came back as role players).
Last edited by The Bobster on Sun Mar 03, 2024 9:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
Author of The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts
Available from Scarecrow Press at - https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780810890695
You'll have to forgive me, I have a lot of time in retiement and didn;t feel like transcribing German league standings this morning. SO I got my basketball research fix here instead!
At least I kept it related to Amar'e for the most part.
Last edited by The Bobster on Mon Mar 04, 2024 6:27 am, edited 2 times in total.
Author of The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts
Available from Scarecrow Press at - https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780810890695
I found this somewhat interesting, although Career Win Shares rewards long careers (A.C. Green, Chandler, Young) and penalizes players with relatively short careers (Amar'e, Westphal, KJ). Also, some of these guys (Shaq, Carter, J. O'Neal) were only Suns long enough for a cup of coffee.
Some interesting "What if?" players on this list who suffered injury problems that curtailed their careers - Amar'e, Westphal, KJ, Adams, and of course two of the biggest "What if?" stories ever, Grant Hill and Connie Hawkins.
Career Win Shares for Suns players -
Chris Paul - 208
Shaquille O'Neal - 182
Charles Barkley - 177
Kevin Durant - 169
Jason Kidd - 139
Steve Nash - 130
Vince Carter - 125
Shawn Marion - 125
Larry Nance - 110
Jeff Hornacek 109
Tyson Chandler - 102
Grant Hill - 100
A.C. Green - 99
Kevin Johnson - 93
Amar'e Stoudemire - 93
Clifford Robinson - 90
Michael Finley - 85
Joe Johnson - 83
Dennis Johnson - 83
Paul Silas - 80
Tom Chambers - 79
Dan Majerle - 79
Stephon Marbury - 77
Walter Davis - 77
Connie Hawkins - 77
Gail Goodrich - 76
Dick Van Arsdale - 75
Alvan Adams - 73
Thaddeus Young - 72
Danny Ainge - 72
Hot Rod Williams - 71
Maurice Lucas - 70
Paul Westphal - 68
Jermaine O'Neal - 66
And as great as he was, Chris Paul's career is quite possibly underrated. His career WS is behind only Kareem, Lebron, Wilt, Karl Malone and Jordan, and just ahead of Stockton, Duncan and Nowitzki.
Here's the top dozen in Win Shares with the Suns -
Shawn Marion - 93
Kevin Johnson - 91
Steve Nash - 83
Alvan Adams - 74
Amar'e Stoudemire - 68
Walter Davis - 66
Dick Van Arsdale - 64
Larry Nance - 54
Dan Majerle - 52
Paul Westphal - 51
Charles Barkley - 44
Jeff Hornacek - 44
Alvan Adams is the only one to play his entire career as a Sun. KJ, Majerle and Westphal are the only others to finish their careers here (Majerle and Wesphal had been traded away but came back as role players).
I would go the other way and say Chris Paul’s career is very overrated. He did all this magical stuff in the regular season, but couldn’t get it done when it counted. In the playoffs. He led multiple teams to franchise best regular season records and never one a title. Pretty telling.
I think it’s just really hard to win a title. He’s not as good as his win shares seem to say, but holding the no titles against him isn’t really fair. Does it mean he’s not as good as Curry or LeBron, etc? Yes it does, but he is still an all time great and I don’t think you could convince me any other 6’2 or under guard is better than him.
I'll never hold it against a guy as great as CP is/was who couldn't win a title. There are a lot of factors that go into it and if you hold that against CP then you have to hold it against Nash. Only one team wins and it takes a lot of luck and the stars aligning. CP is a winning player.
Sarver sucks and rode the coattails of the Colangelos as a new incoming owner. He inherited that 7SOL era, held it back from possibly winning a title(s) and promptly screwed it up as soon as he could. Having him there would've put a damper on things and he would've been booed mercilessly. It would've been a repeat of the Bulls-Krause fiasco.
I don't know if MikeD and Amar'e still have beef. They supposedly worked it out in NY and were on Nash's staff for a season in BK. Maybe MikeD couldn't make it and Gentry took his spot?
I started typing 3 different posts for the Game Day thread and then just deleted em
Gonna post some feel good vibes here instead which is super cool moment and well played by Book to sneak in
Will be a great pic whoever caught the whole group
D'Antoni is a strong possibility, and certainly deserving.
Still, it takes a while to get all the Sarver stink scrubbed off the franchise and correct all the things he ignored.
Do you know if Jerry has ever come out and said anything regarding Robert Sarver, or selling the team to him in the first place?
I'm sure he regrets it. If he had known his health would have been as good as it has been he probably would have held on to the team longer and would have done a better job vetting the prospective owners. But Jerry isn't really one to come out publically and bash people.
Besides, Steve Kerr is the one who vouched for Sarver. He's the one we should blame for that mess.
Man, he must really be kicking himself after he saw how much Sarver got for the team.
"Too little, too late, too unbothered."
- Phoenix Suns 2023-2024 season motto.