2001–02 Phoenix Suns season

Head coach

General manager

Owner(s)

Arena

America West Arena

Results
Record	36–46 (.439)
Place	Division: 6th (Pacific) Conference: 10th (Western)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Radio	KTAR
< 2000–01	2002–03 >

The 2001–02 Phoenix Suns season was the 34th season for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. The Suns would gain a new point guard in Stephon Marbury but the success of season's past were never found. Head coach Scott Skiles struggled to a 25–26 record before being replaced by Frank Johnson. The Suns finished the regular season at 36–46, missing the playoffs for the first time since 1988. All home games were played at America West Arena.

Before the season began, the Suns were involved in a trade with the New Jersey Nets, which included trading Jason Kidd and replacing him with Marbury. The new Suns point guard would lead the team in scoring at 20.4 points per game, becoming the first Suns player to average 20 or more a game since Kevin Johnson during the 1996–97 season. Shawn Marion increased his scoring as well, averaging 19.1 per game. Rodney Rogers and Tony Delk continued to provide the team with scoring off the bench and Anfernee Hardaway returned to appear in 80 games, after being sidelined all but four games the season before, and added 12 points a game. Rookie Joe Johnson, who earned All-Rookie Second Team honors, rounded out a team rich in talent at the guard position. Tom Gugliotta was again plagued by knee injury, starting in just half the season's games.

The season was a disappointment for an organization looking to build a new core of talent. For the first time since the 1987–88 season, the All-Star Game did not feature a Suns player. To complete the season on a low note, a franchise-record of 13 straight playoff appearances was snapped when the Suns failed to qualify for postseason play.

Offseason

NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
2	51	Alton Ford	Forward	United States	Houston

Roster

Phoenix Suns roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Nat.	Name	Height	Weight	DOB (Y-M-D)	From
1.5 !G	0	USA !	Brown, Randy (IN)	style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; \| 74 !6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1968–05–22	New Mexico State
1.5 !G	11	USA !	Crispin, Joe	style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; \| 72 !6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1979–07–18	Penn State
4.0 !F	4	USA !	Ford, Alton	style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; \| 81 !6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	275 lb (125 kg)	1981–05–29	Houston
4.0 !F	24	USA !	Gugliotta, Tom	style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; \| 82 !6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	1969–12–19	North Carolina State
1.5 !G	1	USA !	Hardaway, Anfernee	style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; \| 79 !6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1971–07–18	Memphis
1.5 !G	2	USA !	Johnson, Joe	style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; \| 80 !6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	1981–06–29	Arkansas
2.5 !G/F	9	USA !	Majerle, Dan	style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; \| 78 !6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	1965–09–09	Central Michigan
1.5 !G	3	USA !	Marbury, Stephon	style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; \| 74 !6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1977–02–20	Georgia Tech
4.0 !F	31	USA !	Marion, Shawn	style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; \| 79 !6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	1978–05–07	UNLV
4.0 !F	45	USA !	Outlaw, Charles	style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; \| 80 !6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1971–04–13	Houston
1.5 !G	10	BLZ !	Palacio, Milt	style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; \| 75 !6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1978–02–07	Colorado State
6.0 !C	25	GEO !	Tsakalidis, Jake	style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; \| 86 !7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)	285 lb (129 kg)	1979–06–10	Georgia (country)
6.0 !C	43	USA !	Voskuhl, Jake	style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; \| 83 !6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	1977–11–01	Connecticut
4.0 !F	22	USA !	Wallace, John	style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; \| 80 !6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	1974–02–09	Syracuse

Head coach

Frank Johnson (Wake Forest)

Assistant coach(es)

Athletic trainer(s)

Aaron Nelson (Iowa State)
Casey Smith (Arizona State)

Strength and conditioning coach(es)

Robin Pound (Michigan State)
Tommy Boyer-Kendrick (Middle Tennessee State)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended
Injured

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve	Inactive
C	Jake Tsakalidis	Jake Voskuhl
PF	Bo Outlaw	Alton Ford		Tom Gugliotta
SF	Shawn Marion	Dan Majerle	John Wallace
SG	Joe Johnson	Penny Hardaway
PG	Stephon Marbury	Milt Palacio	Joe Crispin	Randy Brown

Standings

Pacific Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Sacramento Kings	61	21	.744	–	36–5	25–16	15–9
x-Los Angeles Lakers	58	24	.707	3	34–7	24–17	16–8
x-Portland Trail Blazers	49	33	.598	12	30–11	19–22	14–10
x-Seattle SuperSonics	45	37	.549	16	26–15	19–22	13–11
Los Angeles Clippers	39	43	.476	22	25–16	14–27	9–15
Phoenix Suns	36	46	.439	25	23–18	13–28	12–12
Golden State Warriors	21	61	.256	40	14–27	7–34	5–19

#	Western Conference
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Sacramento Kings	61	21	.744	–
2	y-San Antonio Spurs	58	24	.707	3
3	x-Los Angeles Lakers	58	24	.707	3
4	x-Dallas Mavericks	57	25	.695	4
5	x-Minnesota Timberwolves	50	32	.610	11
6	x-Portland Trail Blazers	49	33	.598	12
7	x-Seattle SuperSonics	45	37	.549	16
8	x-Utah Jazz	44	38	.537	17

9	Los Angeles Clippers	39	43	.476	22
10	Phoenix Suns	36	46	.439	25
11	Houston Rockets	28	54	.341	33
12	Denver Nuggets	27	55	.329	34
13	Memphis Grizzlies	23	59	.280	38
14	Golden State Warriors	21	61	.256	40

Awards and honors

Week/Month

Shawn Marion was named Western Conference Player of the Month for March.
Stephon Marbury was named Western Conference Player of the Week for games played November 26 through December 2.
Shawn Marion was named Western Conference Player of the Week for games played March 25 through March 31.

Season

Joe Johnson was named to the All-Rookie Second Team.

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Bell, Charlie !Charlie Bell*	5	0	8.4	.273	.000	1.000#	0.8	0.4	.0	.0	1.6
Buechler, Jud !Jud Buechler*	6	0	9.0	.333	.333	.	1.3	0.5	.2	.0	1.0
Crispin, Joe !Joe Crispin*	15	0	8.6	.411	.429^	1.000#	0.7	1.6	.3	.0	4.6
Del Negro, Vinny !Vinny Del Negro	2	0	3.0	.250	.	.	0.0	1.0	.0	.0	1.0
Delk, Tony !Tony Delk*	41	1	21.4	.399	.320	.836	3.0	2.0	.8	.1	10.6
Ford, Alton !Alton Ford	53	0	8.5	.517†	.	.737	2.0	0.1	.1	.1	3.1
Gugliotta, Tom !Tom Gugliotta	44	40	25.7	.422	.333	.757	5.0	1.8	.9	.7	6.5
Hardaway, Penny !Penny Hardaway	80	56	30.8	.418	.277	.810	4.4	4.1	1.5	.4	12.0
Johnson, Joe !Joe Johnson*	29	27	31.5	.420	.333	.778	4.1	3.6	.9	.4	9.6
Majerle, Dan !Dan Majerle	65	0	18.2	.343	.336^	.590	2.7	1.4	.7	.2	4.6
Marbury, Stephon !Stephon Marbury	82	80	38.9	.442	.286	.781	3.2	8.1	.9	.2	20.4
Marion, Shawn !Shawn Marion	81	81	38.4	.469†	.393^	.845#	9.9	2.0	1.8	1.1	19.1
Outlaw, Bo !Bo Outlaw*	73	36	24.2	.550†	.500^	.417	4.6	1.7	.8	1.1	4.7
Palacio, Milt !Milt Palacio*	28	1	9.7	.380	.143	.783	0.8	1.0	.3	.0	2.8
Rogers, Rodney !Rodney Rogers*	50	7	25.1	.466	.350^	.828	4.8	1.4	1.0	.3	12.6
Santiago, Daniel !Daniel Santiago	3	0	8.0	.500†	.	.	2.3	0.7	.0	.3	2.7
Tsakalidis, Jake !Jake Tsakalidis	67	47	23.6	.475†	.000	.698	5.6	0.3	.3	1.0	7.3
Voskuhl, Jake !Jake Voskuhl	59	34	15.3	.554†	.	.752	4.3	0.3	.2	.4	5.0
Wallace, John !John Wallace	46	0	10.7	.435	.385^	.870#	1.8	0.6	.2	.2	5.0

* - Stats with the Suns.
† - Minimum 300 field goals made.
^ - Minimum 55 three-pointers made.
# - Minimum 125 free throws made.

Transactions

Trades

July 18, 2001	To Detroit Pistons---- Clifford Robinson	To Phoenix Suns---- Jud Buechler John Wallace $1.6 million trade exception
July 18, 2001	To New Jersey Nets---- Chris Dudley Jason Kidd	To Phoenix Suns---- Stephon Marbury Johnny Newman Soumaila Samake
October 29, 2001	To Chicago Bulls---- Soumaila Samake 2003 second-round draft pick ( Matt Bonner)	To Phoenix Suns---- Jake Voskuhl
November 15, 2001	To Orlando Magic---- Jud Buechler	To Phoenix Suns---- Bo Outlaw 2002 first-round draft pick ( Amar'e Stoudemire)
November 15, 2001
To Los Angeles Clippers---- Vinny Del Negro Cash considerations
February 20, 2002	To Boston Celtics---- Tony Delk Rodney Rogers	To Phoenix Suns---- Randy Brown Joe Johnson Milt Palacio 2002 first-round draft pick ( Casey Jacobsen)

Free agents

Additions

Date	Player	Contract	Former Team
July 6, 2001	Charlie Bell	Undisclosed
July 19, 2001	Dan Majerle	Signed to 1-year contract for $1 million	Miami Heat
August 29, 2001	Daniel Santiago	Re-signed to 1-year contract for $465,850	Phoenix Suns
September 27, 2001	Chris Andersen	Undisclosed	Fayetteville Patriots (NBA DL)
September 27, 2001	Dan McClintock	Undisclosed	Denver Nuggets
September 27, 2001	Derek Hood	Undisclosed	Snaidero Udine (Italy)
September 27, 2001	Kendrick Johnson	Undisclosed
January 7, 2002	Joe Crispin	Signed for rest of season	Southern California Surf (ABA)

Subtractions

Date	Player	Reason Left	New Team
September 28, 2001	Johnny Newman	Waived	Dallas Mavericks
October 7, 2001	Chris Andersen	Waived	Denver Nuggets
October 9, 2001	Dan McClintock	Waived	Skipper Bologna
October 11, 2001	Kendrick Johnson	Waived
October 20, 2001	Derek Hood	Waived	Mobile Revelers (NBA DL)
December 11, 2001	Charlie Bell	Waived	Phoenix Eclipse (ABA)
January 7, 2002	Daniel Santiago	Waived	Lottomatica Roma (Italy)

References

Standings on Basketball Reference