1970–71 Phoenix Suns season

The 1970–71 Phoenix Suns season was the third season for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. Head coach Cotton Fitzsimmons lead the Suns, in the NBA's first season which separated the teams into both conferences and divisions as the league continued to gain more teams. It was the first season the Suns would be without the services of All-Star guard Gail Goodrich. With a 48–34 record (fourth best in the league), the Suns set the NBA record for the team with the best winning percentage not to make the playoffs. The team would break their own record the next year with a 49–33 finish. All home games were played at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The Suns were led in scoring by Dick Van Arsdale with 21.9 points per game. Connie Hawkins finished the season averaging 20.9 points and 9.1 rebounds per contest. Paul Silas led the Suns with 12.5 rebounds per game, the highest-ever average in Suns history, while Neal Walk garnered 8.2 rebounds to go with his 12.9 points a game.

Goodrich, a native of Los Angeles and who played college ball at UCLA, was traded before the season back to the Los Angeles Lakers, where he had played before being acquired in the expansion draft of 1968. In exchange, the Suns obtained the 29-year-old 7-footer Mel Counts, who was coming off a career-high 12.6 average in points. Goodrich would go on to play nine more seasons in the NBA, six of those with the Lakers. During those six years, he would average 22.3 points per game, appear in four All-Star Games and be named to an All-NBA First Team. Meanwhile, Counts averaged 11 points and 6.3 rebounds in his first of two seasons with the Suns.

Offseason

NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	10	Greg Howard	Forward	United States	New Mexico
2	27	Fred Taylor	Guard	United States	Texas-Pan Am
3	29	Joe DePre	Guard	United States	St. John's
3	44	Greg McDivitt	Forward	United States	Ohio
3	48	Vann Williford	Forward	United States	North Carolina State
4	61	Bob Lienhard	Center	United States	Georgia
5	78	John Canine	Guard	United States	Ohio
6	95	Joe Thomas	Forward	United States	Marquette
7	112	Heyward Dotson	Guard	United States	Columbia
8	129	Steve Patterson	Center	United States	UCLA
9	146	Carl Ashley	Forward	United States	Wyoming
10	163	Gerhardus Schreur	Forward	United States	Arizona State
11	178	Jim Walls	Guard	United States	Clark
12	190	Ric Cobb	Center	United States	Marquette
13	200	Fred Carpenter	Forward	United States	Hawaii
14	210	Chad Calabria	Guard	United States	Iowa
15	219	Walt Williams	Forward	United States	Miami (Ohio)

Roster

Phoenix Suns roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB (Y-M-D) From 6.0 !C 31 USA ! Counts, Mel 7000213360000000000♠7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1941-10-16 Oregon State 4.0 !F 16 USA ! Green, Lamar 7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1947-03-22 Morehead State 1.5 !G 23 USA ! Harris, Art 7000193040000000000♠6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1947-01-13 Stanford 1.5 !G 11 USA ! Haskins, Clem 7000190500000000000♠6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1943-07-11 Western Kentucky 5.5 !F/C 42 USA ! Hawkins, Connie 7000203200000000000♠6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1942-07-17 Iowa 4.0 !F 44 USA ! Howard, Greg 7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1948-01-08 New Mexico 4.0 !F 29 USA ! Silas, Paul 7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1943-07-12 Creighton 1.5 !G 10 USA ! Taylor, Fred 7000195580000000000♠6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1948-02-05 Texas-Pan Am 4.0 !F 40 USA ! Thomas, Joe 7000198120000000000♠6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1948-03-09 Marquette 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 6.0 !C 41 USA ! Walk, Neal 7000208279999999999♠6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1948-07-29 Florida 2.5 !G/F 25 USA ! Wetzel, John 7000195580000000000♠6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1944-10-22 Virginia Tech	Head coach Cotton Fitzsimmons (Midwestern St.) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Regular season

Standings

Game log

Team-by-team results

Awards and honors

All-Star

• Connie Hawkins was voted as a starter for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. It was his second consecutive All-Star selection.
• Dick Van Arsdale was selected as a reserve for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. It was his third consecutive All-Star selection.

Season

• Paul Silas was named to the All-Defensive Second Team.

Player statistics

Season

^ - Minimum 350 free throw attempts.

Transactions

Trades

Free agents

References

• Standings on Basketball Reference