1996–97 Phoenix Suns season

1996–97 Phoenix Suns season
Head coach	Cotton Fitzsimmons, Danny Ainge
General manager	Bryan Colangelo
Owner(s)	Jerry Colangelo
Arena	America West Arena
Results
Record	40–42 (.488)
Place	Division: 4th (Pacific) Conference: 7th (Western)
Playoff finish	Lost in first round to Seattle (2–3)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	Fox Sports Arizona, KUTP
Radio	KTAR

The 1996–97 Phoenix Suns season was the 29th season of the Phoenix Suns in the National Basketball Association (NBA). After an 0–8 start, coach Cotton Fitzsimmons was replaced by former Suns guard Danny Ainge, who led the team to a 40–34 finish. The Suns finished fourth in the Pacific Division with a 40-42 record. This team would also be the first and only NBA team to start out the season with a 10+ losing streak, yet make it to the playoffs by the end of the season. As the seventh seed in the Western Conference, the Suns faced the Seattle SuperSonics in the first round of the Playoffs, losing 2–3 in a closely contested series.

The season was marked by a number of major trades. In the offseason, superstar forward Charles Barkley was traded to the Houston Rockets for Sam Cassell, Robert Horry, Mark Bryant and Chucky Brown. Cassell was later traded, alongside Michael Finley and A. C. Green, to the Dallas Mavericks for future-superstar Jason Kidd, Loren Meyer and Tony Dumas. Robert Horry was also traded, along with Joe Kleine, to the Los Angeles Lakers for former Suns forward Cedric Ceballos and Rumeal Robinson. It was a season that would not be matched in terms of moves until the 2014-15 season.

Offseason

NBA Draft

Main article: 1996 NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	15	Steve Nash	Guard	Canada	Santa Clara
2	39	Russ Millard	Forward	United States	Iowa
2	43	Ben Davis	Forward	United States	Arizona

The Suns used their first-round pick to select point guard Steve Nash from Santa Clara. Nash averaged 14.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game in four years with the Broncos. On July 24, the Suns signed Nash to a three-year rookie contract for $3.2 million. He would spend his first two seasons with the Suns playing a limited role behind All-Star guards Kevin Johnson and Jason Kidd, before being traded to the Dallas Mavericks in 1998. Nash would later return to the franchise as a free agent in 2004, winning consecutive MVP awards in 2005 and 2006.

The Suns received the 39th pick from a trade with the Detroit Pistons in 1994. With the pick they would select power forward Russ Millard from Iowa. Millard averaged 10.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game in four years with the Hawkeyes. Millard would sign with Italian club Pallacanestro Varese before the season and would never play in the NBA.

The Suns used their second-round pick to select power forward Ben Davis from Arizona. Davis averaged 12.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per game in two years with the Wildcats. On September 25, the Suns signed Davis to a one-year rookie contract for $220,000. Davis spent much of the year on the injured reserve with a finger injury. He would appear in 20 games, average 1.5 points and 1.4 rebounds in 4.9 minutes a game. Davis would sign as a free agent with the New York Knicks after the season. He would later return to the Suns shortly in the 1999–2000 season, appearing in just five games before being waived.

Roster

Phoenix Suns roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Nat.	Name	Height	Weight	DOB (Y-M-D)	From
6.0 !C	45	USA !	Brown, Mike	7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	257 lb (117 kg)	1963–07–19	George Washington
4.5 !PF	2	USA !	Bryant, Mark	7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	1965–04–25	Seton Hall
3.0 !SF	1	USA !	Ceballos, Cedric	7000198120000000000♠6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1969–08–02	Cal State Fullerton
2.0 !SG	3	USA !	Chapman, Rex	7000193040000000000♠6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1967–10–05	Kentucky
4.5 !PF	43	USA !	Davis, Ben	7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	1972–12–26	Arizona
2.0 !SG	27	USA !	Dumas, Tony	7000198120000000000♠6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1972–08–25	UKMC
1.0 !PG	7	USA !	Johnson, Kevin	7000185420000000000♠6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1966–03–04	California
1.0 !PG	32	USA !	Kidd, Jason	7000193040000000000♠6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1973–03–23	California
6.0 !C	17	MEX !	Llamas, Horacio	7000210820000000000♠6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	285 lb (129 kg)	1973–07–17	Grand Canyon
4.5 !PF	15	USA !	Manning, Danny	7000208279999999999♠6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	1966–05–17	Kansas
6.0 !C	40	USA !	Meyer, Loren	7000208279999999999♠6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	257 lb (117 kg)	1972–12–30	Iowa State
1.0 !PG	13	CAN !	Nash, Steve	7000190500000000000♠6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1974–02–07	Santa Clara
2.0 !SG	11	USA !	Person, Wesley	7000198120000000000♠6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1971–03–28	Auburn
4.5 !PF	23	USA !	Tisdale, Wayman	7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	1964–06–09	Oklahoma
6.0 !C	18	USA !	Williams, John	7000210820000000000♠6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	1962–08–09	Tulane

Head coach

Danny Ainge (Brigham Young)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

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

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve	Inactive
C	Hot Rod Williams	Mark Bryant	Loren Meyer	Horacio Llamas
PF	Wayman Tisdale	Danny Manning	Mike Brown	Ben Davis
SF	Rex Chapman	Cedric Ceballos
SG	Kevin Johnson	Wesley Person		Tony Dumas
PG	Jason Kidd	Steve Nash

Regular season

Standings

Pacific Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Seattle SuperSonics	57	25	.695	–	31–10	26–15	16–8
x-Los Angeles Lakers	56	26	.683	1	31–10	25–16	18–6
x-Portland Trail Blazers	49	33	.598	8	29–12	20–21	15–9
x-Phoenix Suns	40	42	.488	17	25–16	15–26	13–11
x-Los Angeles Clippers	36	46	.439	21	21–20	15–26	10–14
Sacramento Kings	34	48	.415	23	22–19	12–29	8–16
Golden State Warriors	30	52	.366	27	18–23	12–29	4–20

#	Western Conference
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Utah Jazz	64	18	.780	–
2	y-Seattle SuperSonics	57	25	.695	7
3	x-Houston Rockets	57	25	.695	7
4	x-Los Angeles Lakers	56	26	.683	8
5	x-Portland Trail Blazers	49	33	.598	15
6	x-Minnesota Timberwolves	40	42	.488	24
7	x-Phoenix Suns	40	42	.488	24
8	x-Los Angeles Clippers	36	46	.439	28

9	Sacramento Kings	34	48	.415	30
10	Golden State Warriors	30	52	.366	34
11	Dallas Mavericks	24	58	.293	40
12	Denver Nuggets	21	61	.256	43
13	San Antonio Spurs	20	62	.244	44
14	Vancouver Grizzlies	14	68	.171	50

Playoffs

The Suns came into the playoffs as the seventh seed, facing the 1996 Western Conference champion Seattle SuperSonics in the first round. In game one, Rex Chapman set a playoff record with 9 three-pointers, finishing the game with 42 points and leading the Suns to a 106–101 upset in Seattle. The Sonics responded with a 44-point blowout in game two, evening the series 1–1. The Suns recovered at home in game three. After an early 15-point deficit, Wesley Person led the team to a comeback 110–103 victory with 29 points and 10 rebounds. The Suns had a chance to close the series at home in game four. Behind by eleven points in the final two minutes of regulation, the Suns cut to lead to two before fouling Detlef Schrempf with 5.4 seconds remaining. Schrempf would miss the second of two free throws, giving the Sonics a 107–104 lead. Rex Chapman would respond with a famous turnaround three-pointer to send the game into overtime. The Sonics would outscore the Suns 15–8 in extra time to gain a 122–115 victory. The Suns would head back to Seattle tied 2–2 for a deciding fifth game. The Suns turned to small ball, starting four guards (Jason Kidd, Kevin Johnson, Rex Chapman and Wesley Person) along with center Hot Rod Williams. The Sonics would dominate the first half, leading by 22 at the break. A third quarter rally would bring the lead to eight, and a Wesley Person three-pointer to open the fourth quarter brought the lead to just five. But the Sonics would go on a 19–7 run in the final six minutes to claim a 116–92 victory.

Game log

1997 playoff game log

First Round: 2–3 (Home: 1–1; Road: 1–2)

Game	Date Time	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	April 25	@ Seattle	W 106–101	Rex Chapman (42)	Kevin Johnson (7)	Jason Kidd (10)	KeyArena 17,072	1–0
2	April 27	@ Seattle	L 78–122	Rex Chapman (18)	Wesley Person (10)	Jason Kidd (8)	KeyArena 17,072	1–1
3	April 29	Seattle	W 110–103	Wesley Person (29)	Wesley Person (10)	Jason Kidd (10)	America West Arena 19,023	2–1
4	May 1	Seattle	L 115–122 (OT)	Kevin Johnson, Jason Kidd (23)	Danny Manning (10)	Jason Kidd (14)	America West Arena 19,023	2–2
5	May 3	@ Seattle	L 92–116	Wesley Person (26)	Jason Kidd, Wesley Person (8)	Jason Kidd (7)	KeyArena 17,072	2–3

1997 playoff schedule

Awards and honors

Week/Month

Kevin Johnson was named Player of the Week for games played March 24 through March 30.
Kevin Johnson was named Player of the Month for April.

All-Star

This was only the third season in franchise history that the Suns were not represented in the All-Star Game, after the 1986 and 1988 seasons.
Steve Nash was selected to compete for the Western Conference in the Rookie Challenge.

Season

Kevin Johnson finished 17th in MVP voting.
Danny Manning finished seventh in Sixth Man of the Year voting.

Injuries/Missed games

10/31/96: Kevin Johnson: Abdominal hernia; placed on injured reserve until November 24
10/31/96: Mark Bryant: Torn knee cartilage; placed on injured reserve until December 6
10/31/96: Hot Rod Williams: Toe surgery; placed on injured list until November 26
11/14/96: Sam Cassell: Flu; did not play
11/23/96: Wayman Tisdale: Shoulder tendinitis; placed on injured list until December 30
11/26/96: Ben Davis: Finger ligament damage; placed on injured reserve until January 12
11/26/96: Sam Cassell: Personal reasons; did not play
11/27/96: Sam Cassell: Personal reasons; did not play
11/29/96: Sam Cassell: Personal reasons; did not play
12/06/96: Darrin Hancock: Bilateral knee bruises; placed on injured reserve until waived on December 10
12/21/96: Joe Kleine: Back spasms; did not play
12/28/96: Kevin Johnson: Flu; did not play
12/30/96: Tony Dumas: Injured finger; did not play
12/30/96: Jason Kidd: Collarbone hairline fracture; placed on injured list until December 14
01/06/97: Robert Horry: Two-game team suspension (threw towel at coach Danny Ainge); out until traded on January 10
01/10/97: Rex Chapman: Sprained ankle; did not play
01/12/97: Tony Dumas: Bruised knee; placed on injured list until April 20
01/13/97: Mark Bryant: Abdominal strain; did not play
01/13/97: Rex Chapman: Sprained ankle; did not play
01/14/97: Mark Bryant: Abdominal strain; did not play
01/14/97: Rex Chapman: Sprained ankle; did not play
01/18/97: Mark Bryant: Abdominal strain; did not play
01/29/97: Rex Chapman: Fractured finger; placed on injured reserve until March 2
02/11/97: Hot Rod Williams: Flu; did not play
02/26/97: Danny Manning: Sore leg; did not play
03/02/97: Ben Davis: Injured finger; placed on injured reserve until March 13
03/09/97: Mark Bryant: Bruised foot; did not play
03/11/97: Mark Bryant: Bruised foot; did not play
03/13/97: Mark Bryant: Bruised foot; did not play
03/13/97: Loren Meyer: Strained lower back; placed on injured list until March 25
03/17/97: Mark Bryant: Bruised foot; placed on injured reserve until April 20
03/22/97: Cedric Ceballos: Bruised knee; did not play
03/26/97: Cedric Ceballos: Bruised knee; did not play
03/28/97: Cedric Ceballos: Bruised knee; did not play
03/28/97: Wayman Tisdale: Personal reasons; did not play
03/30/97: Wayman Tisdale: Personal reasons; did not play
04/02/97: Wayman Tisdale: Personal reasons; did not play
04/05/97: Ben Davis: Injured finger; placed on injured reserve until April 20
04/15/97: Wesley Person: Flu; did not play
04/18/97: Wesley Person: Flu; did not play
04/19/97: Danny Manning: Injured foot; did not play

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
Boney, Dexter !Dexter Boney	8	0	6.0	.316	.167	.750	0.8	0.0	.3	.1	2.4
Brown, Chucky !Chucky Brown*	10	0	8.3	.500	.	.727	1.6	0.4	.0	.02	3.4
Brown Mike !Mike Brown	6	1	13.8	.417	.	.600	4.2	0.8	.2	.3	2.7
Bryant, Mark !Mark Bryant	41	18	24.8	.553†	.	.704	5.2	1.1	.5	.1	9.3
Cassell, Sam !Sam Cassell*	22	9	24.5	.415	.306	.855#	2.3	4.5	1.0	.3	14.8
Ceballos, Cedric !Cedric Ceballos*	42	32	27.3	.464	.259	.737	6.6	1.2	.7	.4	15.3
Chapman, Rex !Rex Chapman	65	33	28.2	.443	.350	.832	2.8	2.8	.8	.1	13.8
Davis, Ben !Ben Davis	20	0	4.9	.385	.	.450	1.4	0.0	.2	.1	1.5
Dumas, Tony !Tony Dumas*	6	1	8.5	.316	.250	.500	0.3	0.5	.0	.2	2.3
Finley, Michael !Michael Finley*	27	18	29.5	.475	.255	.812	4.4	2.5	.7	.1	13.0
Green, A. C. !A. C. Green*	27	19	20.3	.477	.000	.646	5.1	0.6	.7	.0	5.7
Horry, Robert !Robert Horry*	32	15	22.5	.421	.308	.640	3.7	1.7	.9	.8	6.9
Johnson, Kevin !Kevin Johnson	70	70	38.0	.496	.441^	.852#	3.6	9.3	1.5+	.2	20.1
Kidd, Jason !Jason Kidd*	33	23	35.5	.423	.400	.688	4.8	9.0	2.4+	.4	11.6
Kleine, Joe !Joe Kleine*	23	10	15.9	.400	1.000^	.722	3.5	0.5	.4	.3	3.4
Llamas, Horacio !Horacio Llamas	20	2	5.1	.536	.	.500	0.9	0.2	.5	.3	1.7
Manning, Danny !Danny Manning	77	17	27.7	.536†	.194	.721	6.1	2.2	1.1	1.0	13.5
Meyer, Loren !Loren Meyer*	35	17	12.8	.446	.600^	.712	2.7	.3	.1	.3	5.4
Nash, Steve !Steve Nash	65	2	10.5	.423	.418	.824	1.0	2.1	.3	.0	3.3
Person, Wesley !Wesley Person	80	42	29.1	.453	.413	.798	3.7	1.5	1.1	.2	13.5
Robinson, Rumeal !Rumeal Robinson*	12	0	7.3	.471	.300	.250	0.6	0.7	.1	.0	3.0
Tisdale, Wayman !Wayman Tisdale	53	15	14.7	.426	.	.625	2.3	0.4	.2	.4	6.5
Williams, John !John "Hot Rod" Williams	68	66	31.4	.490	.000	.672	8.3	1.5	1.0	1.3	8.0

* - Stats with the Suns.
† - Minimum 300 field goals made.
^ - Minimum 82 three-pointers made.
# - Minimum 125 free throws made.
+ - Minimum 50 games played.

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Brown Mike !Mike Brown	4	0	6.8	.400	.	.875	1.0	0.3	.0	.0	2.8
Bryant, Mark !Mark Bryant	4	0	9.0	.400	.	1.000#	1.0	0.0	.0	.0	2.8
Ceballos, Cedric !Cedric Ceballos	5	0	21.4	.333	.250	1.000#	5.2	0.6	.8	.6	6.6
Chapman, Rex !Rex Chapman	5	5	38.2	.494	.458	.680	3.2	2.6	.4	.0	24.2
Johnson, Kevin !Kevin Johnson	5	5	41.6	.295	.136	.879	4.4	6.0	2.6	.0	16.8
Kidd, Jason !Jason Kidd	5	5	41.4	.396	.364	.526	6.0	9.8	2.2	.4	12.0
Manning, Danny !Danny Manning	5	0	23.2	.578	.000	.933#	6.0	1.4	.8	1.4	13.2
Meyer, Loren !Loren Meyer	3	0	4.7	.000	.000	.	2.0	0.3	.0	.7	0.0
Nash, Steve !Steve Nash	4	0	3.8	.222	.250	.	0.3	0.3	.2	.2	1.3
Person, Wesley !Wesley Person	5	1	32.6	.472	.424	.778	6.6	1.2	.8	.6	15.6
Tisdale, Wayman !Wayman Tisdale	4	4	9.0	.400	.	.	1.8	0.0	.0	.0	3.0
Williams, John !John "Hot Rod" Williams	5	5	21.0	.533	.	.400	4.6	0.6	.4	1.6	4.0

# - Minimum 10 free throws made.

Transactions

Trades

April 19, 1996	To Houston Rockets Charles Barkley 1999 second-round draft pick ( Tyrone Washington)	To Phoenix Suns Sam Cassell Robert Horry Mark Bryant Chucky Brown
September 25, 1996	To Milwaukee Bucks Elliot Perry	To Phoenix Suns Marty Conlon 1999 first-round draft pick ( James Posey)
December 4, 1996	To Milwaukee Bucks Chucky Brown	To Phoenix Suns Darrin Hancock Conditional 1997 second-round draft pick
December 26, 1996	To Dallas Mavericks Sam Cassell Michael Finley A. C. Green 1998 second-round draft pick ( Greg Buckner)	To Phoenix Suns Jason Kidd Loren Meyer Tony Dumas
January 10, 1997	To Los Angeles Lakers Robert Horry Joe Kleine	To Phoenix Suns Cedric Ceballos Rumeal Robinson

Free agents

Additions

Date	Player	Contract	Former Team
October 2, 1996	Evric Gray	Undisclosed	Chicago Bulls
October 11, 1996	Rex Chapman	Signed one-year contract	Miami Heat
January 31, 1997	Dexter Boney	Signed two 10-day contracts	San Antonio Spurs
February 21, 1997	Horacio Llamas	Signed two 10-day contracts	Grand Canyon Antelopes
March 13, 1997	Horacio Llamas	Signed for rest of season	Phoenix Suns
April 5, 1997	Mike Brown	Signed for rest of season	Philadelphia 76ers

Subtractions

Date	Player	Reason Left	New Team
July 1, 1996	Terrence Rencher	Free agent	Grand Rapids Hoops (CBA)
July 19, 1996	Chris Carr	Free agent	Minnesota Timberwolves
October 22, 1996	Evric Gray	Waived	New Jersey Nets
October 29, 1996	Marty Conlon	Waived	Boston Celtics
October 29, 1996	Mario Bennett	Waived	Grand Rapids Hoops (CBA)
October 29, 1996	John Coker	Waived	Toronto Raptors
December 11, 1996	Darrin Hancock	Waived	Atlanta Hawks
February 14, 1996	Rumeal Robinson	Waived	Portland Trail Blazers
February 20, 1997	Dexter Boney	Waived	Florida Beach Dogs (CBA)

References

1996–97 NBA season by team

Eastern

Atlantic	Boston Miami New Jersey New York Orlando Philadelphia Washington

Central	Atlanta Charlotte Chicago Cleveland Detroit Indiana Milwaukee Toronto

Western

Midwest	Dallas Denver Houston Minnesota San Antonio Utah Vancouver

Pacific	Golden State L.A. Clippers L.A. Lakers Phoenix Portland Sacramento Seattle

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

Phoenix Suns

Founded in 1968 Based in Phoenix, Arizona

Franchise	Franchise Expansion Draft History Draft history All-time roster Head coaches Seasons Records Current season

Arenas	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum Talking Stick Resort Arena

D-League affiliate	Bakersfield Jam

Culture & Lore	The Suns Gorilla The Shot 'Heard' Round the World 07 Seconds or Less STAT The Matrix Sir Charles Nashty The Greyhound Thunder Dan Shazam Oklahoma Kid Original Sun Hawk

Rivals	San Antonio Spurs

Ring of Honor & Retired Numbers	5 6 7 9 13 24 33 34 42 44 Jerry Colangelo Cotton Fitzsimmons John MacLeod Joe Proski

Hall of Famers	Charles Barkley Jerry Colangelo Gail Goodrich Connie Hawkins Dennis Johnson Gus Johnson Ann Meyers Pat Riley

Key Personnel	Owner Robert Sarver President & CEO Jason Rowley General Manager & President of Basketball Operations Ryan McDonough Senior Adviser Lon Babby Director of Player Personnel Mark West Head Coach Earl Watson Voice of the Suns Al McCoy

Western Conference Championships (2)	1976 1993

Pacific Division Championships (6)	1981 1993 1995 2005 2006 2007

Media	TV FS Arizona Radio Arizona Sports Announcers Tom Leander Tom Chambers Eddie Johnson Al McCoy Tim Kempton Ann Meyers Casey Jacobsen Steve Albert Jon Bloom

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, January 21, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.