1968–69 Phoenix Suns season

1968–69 Phoenix Suns season
Head coach	Johnny "Red" Kerr
General manager	Jerry Colangelo
Owner(s)	Richard Bloch
Arena	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record	16–66 (.195)
Place	Division: 7th (Western)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Radio	KTAR

The 1968–69 Phoenix Suns season was the inaugural season for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. In the season Suns' debut, head coach Red Kerr led the franchise to its first win in a victory over the Seattle SuperSonics. No other season for the Suns contained as many losses as the franchise's first season, and it would not be long before the team provided the city of Phoenix with its first opportunity to host a home playoff game. All home games were played at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Dick Van Arsdale would become the franchise's first All-Star selection when he was selected to play in the 1969 All-Star Game. He was the team's second leading scorer at 21 points per game, behind eventual Hall of Fame member Gail Goodrich, who averaged 23.8, the seventh-highest in the league for the season. Goodrich was selected to replace an injured Jerry West in the All-Star Game.

Offseason

NBA Expansion Draft

Main article: 1968 NBA Expansion Draft

Player	Position	Nationality	Former team
John Barnhill	Guard	United States	San Diego Rockets
Em Bryant	Guard	United States	New York Knicks
Gail Goodrich	Guard	United States	Los Angeles Lakers
Dennis Hamilton	Forward	United States	Los Angeles Lakers
Neil Johnson	Forward	United States	New York Knicks
Dave Lattin	Forward	United States	San Francisco Warriors
Paul Long	Guard	United States	Detroit Pistons
Stan McKenzie	Forward	United States	Baltimore Bullets
McCoy McLemore	Forward	United States	Chicago Bulls
Bill Melchionni	Guard	United States	Philadelphia 76ers
Dave Schellhase	Guard	United States	Chicago Bulls
Dick Snyder	Guard	United States	Atlanta Hawks
Craig Spitzer	Center	United States	Chicago Bulls
Bumper Tormohlen	Center	United States	Atlanta Hawks
Dick Van Arsdale	Forward	United States	New York Knicks
Roland West	Guard	United States	Baltimore Bullets
John Wetzel	Forward	United States	Los Angeles Lakers
George Wilson	Center	United States	Seattle SuperSonics

Along with the other expansion team that joined the league in 1968, the Milwaukee Bucks, the Suns participated in the league's fourth expansion draft. Each of the league's 12 existing teams protected seven of their top players, with the remaining unprotected players available in the draft. The two expansion teams would select three players from each team, totaling 18 selections each.

The Suns received the first, fourth and fifth picks, while the (as yet unnamed) Bucks received the second and third picks. The Suns' first selection was swingman Dick Van Arsdale of the New York Knicks. The Bucks then selected center Wayne Embry of the Boston Celtics, and power forward Fred Hetzel of the San Francisco Warriors. The Suns rounded out the top five by picking point guard Gail Goodrich of the Los Angeles Lakers and shooting guard Dick Snyder of the Atlanta Hawks.^[1]

NBA Draft

Main article: 1968 NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	8	Gary Gregor	Forward	United States	South Carolina
2	22	Dick Cunningham	Center	United States	Murray State
3	36	Art Beatty	Center	United States	American
4	49	Rich Jones	Forward	United States	Memphis
5	64	Harry Hollines	Guard	United States	Denver
6	77	Rod Knowles	Center	United States	Davidson
7	92	Charles Parks	Forward	United States	Idaho State
8	105	Brian Clare	Center	United States	Denver
9	120	Mervin Jackson	Guard	United States	Utah
10	133	Lee Davis	Center	United States	North Carolina Central
11	147	Ron Boone	Guard	United States	Idaho State
12	160	Bill Davis	Forward	United States	Arizona
13	171	Pat Hobart	Forward	United States	California State

Roster

Phoenix Suns roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Nat.	Name	Height	Weight	DOB (Y-M-D)	From
5.5 !F/C	31	USA !	Fox, Jim	7000208279999999999♠6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	1943–04–07	South Carolina
1.5 !G	25	USA !	Goodrich, Gail	7000185420000000000♠6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1943–04–23	UCLA
5.5 !F/C	44	USA !	Gregor, Gary	7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	1945–08–13	South Carolina
5.5 !F/C	11	USA !	Johnson, Neil	7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	1943–04–17	Creighton
5.5 !F/C	43	USA !	Lattin, Dave	7000198120000000000♠6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	1943–12–23	Texas-El Paso
2.5 !G/F	40	USA !	McKenzie, Stan	7000195580000000000♠6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1944–10–06	NYU
2.5 !G/F	10	USA !	Snyder, Dick	7000195580000000000♠6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	207 lb (94 kg)	1944–02–01	Davidson
2.5 !G/F	5	USA !	Van Arsdale, Dick	7000195580000000000♠6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1943–02–22	Indiana
2.5 !G/F	23	USA !	Warlick, Bob	7000195580000000000♠6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1941–03–20	Pepperdine

Head coach

Johnny Kerr (Illinois)

Legend

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

Regular season

Standings

Western Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
x-Los Angeles Lakers	55	27	.671	–	32–9	21–18	2–0	30–10
x-Atlanta Hawks	48	34	.585	7	28–12	18–21	2–1	26–14
x-San Francisco Warriors	41	41	.500	14	22–19	18–21	1–1	20–20
x- San Diego Rockets	37	45	.451	18	25–16	8–25	4–4	20–20
Chicago Bulls	33	49	.402	22	19–21	12–25	2–3	19–21
Seattle SuperSonics	30	52	.366	25	18–18	6–29	6–5	15–23
Phoenix Suns	16	66	.195	39	11–26	4–28	1–12	8–30

Game log

1968–69 game log
Total: 16–66 (Home: 12–29; Road: 4–37)

October: 4–3 (Home: 3–2; Road: 1–1)

November: 1–12 (Home: 1–5; Road: 0–7)

December: 3–15 (Home: 2–5; Road: 1–10)

January: 3–12 (Home: 3–6; Road: 0–6)

February: 3–14 (Home: 2–4; Road: 1–10)

March: 2–10 (Home: 1–7; Road: 1–3)

1968–69 season schedule

Team-by-team results

Opponent	Home	Road	Total	All-time record	Suns leading scorer	Opp. leading scorer
Atlanta Hawks	0–3	0–3	0–6	0–6 (.000%)	Bob Warlick (16.4)	Zelmo Beaty (24.8)
Baltimore Bullets	0–3	0–3	0–6	0–6 (.000%)	Dick Van Arsdale (31.0)	Earl Monroe (26.8)
Boston Celtics	0–3	0–3	0–6	0–6 (.000%)	Dick Van Arsdale (18.2)	Bailey Howell (21.7)
Chicago Bulls	2–1	0–3	2–4	2–4 (.333%)	Gail Goodrich (26.7)	Bob Boozer (25.8)
Cincinnati Royals	1–2	1–2	2–4	2–4 (.333%)	Gail Goodrich (28.0)	Oscar Robertson (25.2)
Detroit Pistons	1–2	1–2	2–4	2–4 (.333%)	Gail Goodrich (22.7)	Dave DeBusschere (23.5)
Los Angeles Lakers	0–3	0–3	0–6	0–6 (.000%)	Dick Van Arsdale (26.7)	Wilt Chamberlain (31.2)
Milwaukee Bucks	2–2	0–4	2–6	2–6 (.250%)	Dick Van Arsdale (23.9)	Len Chappell (22.6)
New York Knicks	1–2	0–3	1–5	1–5 (.167%)	Gail Goodrich (21.0)	Willis Reed (27.3)
Philadelphia 76ers	1–2	0–3	1–5	1–5 (.167%)	Dick Van Arsdale (20.2)	Billy Cunningham (26.3)
San Diego Rockets	1–3	0–4	1–7	1–7 (.125%)	Gail Goodrich (30.5)	Elvin Hayes (31.6)
San Francisco Warriors	1–2	1–2	2–4	2–4 (.333%)	Gail Goodrich (29.0)	Nate Thurmond (24.8)
Seattle SuperSonics	2–1	1–2	3–3	3–3 (.500%)	Gail Goodrich (23.8)	Bob Rule (26.7)

Awards and honors

All-Star

Dick Van Arsdale was selected as a reserve for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. It was his first All-Star selection.
Gail Goodrich was selected to replace Jerry West in the All-Star Game. It was his first All-Star selection.

Season

Gary Gregor was named to the All-Rookie First Team.

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game
PPG	Points per game

Season

Player	GP	MPG	FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	PPG
Biedenbach, Ed !Ed Biedenbach	7	2.6	.000	.667	0.3	0.4	0.6
Fox, Jim !Jim Fox*	51	38.8	.470	.734	13.3	2.8	13.8
Goodrich, Gail !Gail Goodrich	81	40.0	.411	.747	5.4	6.4	23.8
Gregor, Gary !Gary Gregor	80	27.3	.415	.649	8.9	1.2	11.1
Johnson, Neil !Neil Johnson	80	16.5	.481^	.621	5.0	1.7	5.8
Knowles, Rod !Rod Knowles*	8	5.0	.286	.333	1.1	0.0	1.1
Lattin, Dave !Dave Lattin	68	14.5	.410	.634	4.8	0.7	6.0
McKenzie, Stan !Stan McKenzie	80	19.6	.427	.763+	3.1	1.5	9.3
McLemore, McCoy !McCoy McLemore*	31	22.9	.385	.773+	5.4	1.6	11.8
Snyder, Dick !Dick Snyder	81	26.0	.472^	.725	4.0	2.6	12.1
Van Arsdale, Dick !Dick Van Arsdale	80	42.4	.442	.705	6.9	4.8	21.0
Warlick, Bob !Bob Warlick*	63	15.5	.423	.606	2.4	2.1	8.0
Wilson, George !George Wilson*	41	31.6	.397	.616	12.3	1.9	11.6

* – Stats with the Suns.
^ – Minimum 230 field goals.
+ – Minimum 230 free throws.

Transactions

Trades

August 27, 1968	To Boston Celtics---- Em Bryant	To Phoenix Suns---- 1969 second-round draft pick ( Gene Williams)
September 11, 1968	To Atlanta Hawks---- Dennis Hamilton	To Phoenix Suns---- 1969 third-round draft pick ( Lloyd Kerr)
September 12, 1968	To Milwaukee Bucks---- Dick Cunningham	To Phoenix Suns---- 1973 second-round draft pick ( Gary Melchionni) Cash considerations
December 17, 1968	To Detroit Pistons---- McCoy McLemore	To Phoenix Suns---- Jim Fox 1969 third-round draft pick ( Lamar Green)
January 20, 1969	To Philadelphia 76ers---- George Wilson	To Phoenix Suns---- Jerry Chambers

Free agents

Additions

Date	Player	Contract	Former Team
October 18, 1968	Ed Biedenbach	Undisclosed	Los Angeles Lakers
November 8, 1968	Bob Warlick	Undisclosed	Milwaukee Bucks

Subtractions

Date	Player	Reason Left	New Team
October 1, 1968	Paul Long	Waived	Los Angeles Lakers
November 6, 1968	Rod Knowles	Waived	New York Nets (ABA)
November 21, 1968	Ed Biedenbach	Waived	n/a

References

↑ Boatner, Verne (May 7, 1968), "Suns Stress Youth in Draft Choices", Arizona Republic

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

1968–69 NBA season by team

Eastern	Baltimore Boston Cincinnati Detroit Milwaukee New York Philadelphia

Western	Atlanta Chicago Los Angeles Phoenix San Diego San Francisco Seattle

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