Suns History

[bwgood77]

I thought we had a thread about this at one time, but I couldn't find it, so I thought I'd start one. I will probably move some great write ups about our history that currently reside in various threads, here, for those who have interest.

I decided to start this up now because I just went to youtube and saw this new video recommended. Interestingly enough, I came across that Nobody Touches Jordan archive of write ups a while back while researching some KJ stuff.

Watch on YouTube

[bwgood77]

If you'd like to see video of Nash's best assists from each year, go here...and give this guy an And1 for putting some nice Suns content out there... viewtopic.php?f=64&t=1138553&p=53679418#p53679418

[GMATCallahan]

With all the controversy over resting stars these days (and I am not necessarily taking a position on the matter, as there are good arguments both ways), I might note that twenty years ago tonight, on March 28, 1997, when Phoenix hosted Golden State on a Friday night, the Suns' Kevin Johnson and the Warriors' Latrell Sprewell both played all 53 minutes of an overtime game; neither rested for a second of game time.

And that is not to say that the game was not taxing. Jason Kidd left the game in the third quarter with sore feet and did not return. The late John "Hot Rod" Williams left the game for several minutes in the first half with a bruised knee, but he returned to play 46 minutes overall, scoring 18 points on 7-9 FG and 4-5 FT with 10 rebounds, 6 blocked shots, 3 steals, and 0 turnovers. Rex Chapman was doubled over with stomach cramps at halftime and played on an ankle and foot that needed icing after the game, but he made his way through 49 minutes and scored 7 points in the final two minutes of overtime.

And guess who else played in the game? The Warriors' Melvin Booker, Devin's father! So did a rookie Steve Nash for the Suns (and he played in the fourth quarter, after Kidd went down).

http://www.databasebasketball.com/teams/boxscore.htm?yr=1996&b=19970328&tm=PHO

The win represented the Suns' fifth in a row as they eventually built an eleven-game winning streak, becoming the first—and only—team in NBA history to post double-digit losing and winning streaks in the same season as they surged to a playoff berth despite an injury-riddled 0-13 start.

Through the first five games of the winning streak, Kevin Johnson was now averaging 28.4 points, 11.6 assists, 4.2 rebounds, 1.8 steals, 0.6 blocked shots, a .500 field goal percentage in 17.6 attempts, a .538 three-point field goal percentage in 5.2 attempts, and a .930 free throw percentage in 8.6 attempts, posting a .664 True Shooting Percentage while averaging 44.8 minutes per contest.

Over his last six games concluding with the one twenty years ago tonight, K.J. was now averaging 29.8 points, 11.3 assists, 3.7 rebounds, 1.7 steals, 0.5 blocked shots, a .500 field goal percentage in 18.0 attempts, a .500 three-point field goal percentage in 4.7 attempts, and a .934 free throw percentage in 10.2 attempts, posting a .664 True Shooting Percentage while averaging 44.7 minutes per contest.

Over the the last nine games (concluding with the Golden State battle), in which the Suns were now 8-1, K.J. was now averaging 27.1 points, 10.2 assists, 4.7 rebounds, 1.4 steals, a .521 field goal percentage in 15.6 attempts, a .513 three-point field goal percentage in 4.3 attempts, and a .929 free throw percentage in 9.3 attempts, recording a .689 True Shooting Percentage while playing 43.0 minutes per contest.

He received the Player of the Week Award for the final week of March and was the runner up for the March Player of the Month Award, behind Karl Malone, who would eventually receive the MVP Award that year. K.J. would receive the Player of the Month Award for April (back when there was only one award per month and week), and his best month of the season was actually February.

[GMATCallahan]

Twenty years ago last night (April 25), Rex Chapman set a new NBA playoff record with 9 three-pointers in a game as the Suns stole the opener in Seattle.

Watch on YouTube

... such a fluid shooter.

I remember watching the game and Chapman's climatic shots at the end; great memory.

[Jarlaxle0204]

I remember that game vividly. I always felt Chapman was an underrated player. When he got hot, he was unstoppable. This is the same series he hit that crazy 3 to send the game to OT (which we still wound up losing) right?

[bwgood77]

I remember that game vividly. I always felt Chapman was an underrated player. When he got hot, he was unstoppable. This is the same series he hit that crazy 3 to send the game to OT (which we still wound up losing) right?

Yes, and I was at that latter game. Crazy moment.

[Zelaznyrules]

Twenty years ago last night (April 25), Rex Chapman set a new NBA playoff record with 9 three-pointers in a game as the Suns stole the opener in Seattle.

Watch on YouTube

... such a fluid shooter.

I remember watching the game and Chapman's climatic shots at the end; great memory.

For me, the next season is the one that sticks out the most. We were playing great basketball, closed the season 17-5 and IMO had one of our best chances to win it all. Then, a week before the season ends we lose Danny Manning to injury. Danny was having his best season since he first went down to injury with Phoenix. He was a huge loss and then, we faced off against a team that, like us, was better than their 56 win record. In fact, they'd closed the season almost identical to us, giving us home court advantage due only to a tiebreaker.

I think we could have survived the loss of Manning (we still had Dice and Uncle Cliffy) but it really falls apart when Chapman injures his hand. He plays the first two games but he can't buy a basket with his injury and so, minus, two of our most important pieces we start the trend of losing to the Spurs in the playoffs. Yeah, I know we beat them a couple of years later when they were missing Duncan and later on with Goran Gone Wild but it's been a heavily lopsided matchup since then.

[GMATCallahan]

I remember that game vividly. I always felt Chapman was an underrated player. When he got hot, he was unstoppable. This is the same series he hit that crazy 3 to send the game to OT (which we still wound up losing) right?

Yup. I will make some comments on that matter in a few days, on the twenty-year anniversary.

[Frank Lee]

Anyone remember the desert city 6 ?

[bigfoot]

Anyone remember the desert city 6 ?

Just in case you are looking for some hard to find memorabilia
http://tinyurl.com/jwa2s7t

[GMATCallahan]

So twenty years ago tonight, on May 1, 1997, Rex Chapman sank arguably the greatest shot in the history of basketball:

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

I watched it live on television, and that shot may well represent my greatest memory watching sports. When Chapman caught the ball with 4.3 seconds remaining, turned (in the air), and fired, my first thought was, "No, why are you shooting that shot? There was still time," meaning still time to maneuver and attempt more of a normal shot. Then, amid my disappointment, I saw that the shot seemed curiously on line. Then, when it swished through the net, I blurted out, "Oh, my God!" I never used that phrase and I probably have not used it since. And then I just started pacing up and down, almost uncontrollably. To watch that shot as it happened was a sort of transcendent experience—probably a once in a lifetime experience. I viewed Kevin Johnson's dunk on Hakeem Olajuwon during the 1994 playoffs live on television, and that experience was exceptional (watching Baron Davis' dunk on Andrei Kirilenko live on TV during the 2007 playoffs offered sort of a pale replica), and I was watching live on television when a rookie Amare Stoudemire banked in a game-tying three in San Antonio at the end of regulation of the 2003 playoff opener and when Stephon Marbury then banked in a running heave from near half-court to win that game at the end of overtime, but seeing Chapman's shot was something else.

The whole thing went down in 2.4 seconds, yet it might as well have taken place in slow motion. I had time to observe everything in discrete stages and form articulated thoughts—all of which I remember precisely twenty years later. The other aspect—and most people forget about this part, or have never known about it—is that Chapman's three capped a wild, furious comeback. The seventh-seeded Suns had entered the fourth quarter, seeking to close out the defending conference champion Sonics, trailing by just two points, and Phoenix still trailed by just three with a little over six minutes to play. But with just over two minutes remaining, an emphatic Shawn Kemp dunk extended Seattle's lead to twelve points; the outcome pretty much seemed to be decided. Then everything changed.

I had always remembered the riveting comeback in general, but aside from Chapman's three, I had forgotten all the specifics leading up to it. However, I have viewed this game again about three times since August 2010 (most recently two years ago). The referees whistled Kemp for a technical after he vociferously protested and gestured, seeking a foul, on his way down from his dunk. Kevin Johnson hit the technical free throw. K.J. then came down the court, on the right wing, got a switch off a ball-screen, and shot what looked to me like a three. (Evidently, the referees said that his foot was on the line.) He missed, but he followed his shot, stole the ball from Seattle's Hersey Hawkins on the other side of the basket, and instantly flipped the ball in off the glass while drawing a foul. K.J. sank the free throw, completing the three-point play; suddenly, the Sonics' lead was down to eight.

In the less than two minutes that followed, there was Jason Kidd reverse-spinning down the left side in transition to smoothly score at the basket; there was Wesley Person streaking down the left side of the court, ahead of the defense, to take a great pass from Kidd and lay the ball in off a run-out; there was Rex Chapman reverse-spinning off a pick-and-roll in the middle of the floor and hitting a long runner from what I recall as nineteen or twenty feet (the play-by-play log says fifteen feet, but these distances are often wrong; I just viewed part of a game from 1998 where K.J. hit a twenty-one-footer that the play-by-play log calls a fifteen-footer); there was Kevin Johnson getting another switch off a ball-screen, driving along the right side of the lane against Detlef Schrempf, and scoring while drawing another foul, again hitting a free throw to convert a three-point play. And there was Cedric Ceballos stepping back off an inbounds pass from Kidd to hit an off-the-dribble three from the right corner, trimming Seattle's lead to two. When Schrempf then missed the second of two free throws, the Suns were only down three, with the ball, setting up Chapman's shot.

http://stats.nba.com/game/#!/0049600029/playbyplay/

And unlike the Stoudemire and Marbury threes six years later, Chapman's shot did not represent luck. Rather, it constituted an extreme version of his uncanny—indeed, unique—shooting skills, where he could shoot these seemingly off-balance runners from incredible distances. For most players, runners are short and mid-range shots that usually do not extend outside of fifteen feet. But Chapman would shoot leaning, hanging runners from the perimeter, sometimes from beyond the three-point line. In this case, he did so before he flew out of bounds.

The game went to overtime; Kidd opened the scoring with a catch-and-shoot three from the left corner, giving the Suns a three-point lead. They seemed to be on their way, and I had always remembered that trey from Kidd giving Phoenix the lead. Unfortunately, the Suns ended up losing. What I had either not recognized at the time, or failed to remember, was a large part of the reason why that result transpired. Kemp ended regulation with five personal fouls, and the referees evidently decided that unless something was downright gratuitous, they were not going to foul Kemp out of the overtime session. Consequently, he got away with multiple fouls on Kevin Johnson. The first happened with a little less than three minutes to play with the score knotted at 112. K.J. came roaring off a high ball-screen set by center John "Hot Rod" Williams in the middle of the floor, coming off to the left and then splitting the defense. The ball-screen defender was Kemp, who reached in as K.J. went by, hitting him on the thigh and thus slightly slowing him down or disrupting his rhythm. On the TNT broadcast, color commentator Quinn Buckner, a former NBA point guard and head coach, made note of the missed call. K.J. still darted into the lane, but he missed his runner. Kemp nearly undercut him from behind, and Sam Perkins challenged him from the front. Either way, Kemp should have already been disqualified for his sixth foul, removing Seattle's primary shot blocker and rim protector (as we would now say).

But, okay, referees will occasionally miss a call. Less than half a minute later, on the following Phoenix possession with the score still tied at 112, K.J. had Seattle guard Hersey Hawkins (his primary defender) isolated on the right wing. K.J. reverse-spun on Hawkins and went by him dramatically, coming down the right side free and in space. As he went up for the layup, Kemp came off belatedly from the left of the basket, where he had been defending Williams along the baseline, and pivoted toward Johnson—Kemp did not have position, and his arms were not straight up. Just as the ball was coming off K.J.'s fingertips for a layup, a turning Kemp's right elbow flared high and hit Johnson in the chops. The ball never hit the rim, and K.J. ended up on his back, underneath the basket—wiped out of the play. The referees never blew a whistle.

From the telecast, one cannot say for certain that Kemp hit K.J. before the Phoenix point guard released the ball, but the chances of Kevin Johnson missing the rim on a point-blank, under-control layup are virtually nil. Most likely, the ball was still on K.J.'s fingertips when Kemp hit him, explaining how the ball came up so short. Regardless, you are not supposed to hit a player as he is coming down from a shooting attempt, either, including a layup attempt, and K.J. ended up on his back. Yes, the game was more physical then—in the second quarter, Seattle's Sam Perkins basically put Cedric Ceballos on the ground to curtail a pending Phoenix fast break in a manner that might be illegal in the NFL these days, let alone the NBA, but that just resulted in a common foul. Yet the physical contact by Kemp against K.J. on both occasions in the third minute of overtime were highly significant—more influential than the "and one" foul calls that K.J. had benefited from in the last two minutes of regulation. Again, I believe that with Kemp having five fouls, the referees just decided that they were not going to "decide the game" and that they would give the Seattle big man a long leash. But by not calling anything, a referee can also "decide the game."

With K.J. on his back underneath the basket, the Sonics were in a five-on-four posture for awhile on their offense end before Johnson could get down the court. Eventually, he did so, and with the Suns scrambling on defense, Seattle had been unable to take advantage of their numerical superiority. K.J. now picked up Gary Payton. The two had matched up for years, of course, but after the Suns had acquired Kidd earlier that season, they had usually assigned Kidd to Payton while K.J. defended shooting guard Hersey Hawkins. Payton possessed good size and liked to post up smaller point guards, but Kidd was the same height (both were 6'3") and could largely neutralize that strategy. Yet since the Suns had been playing four-on-five and had been scrambling defensively, they could not set up their preferred matchups. Thus K.J. had to take Payton, and keep in mind that Johnson had just been wiped out and was playing on a sprained ankle that had left him questionable prior to the game. The Phoenix point guard played him well, but Payton got a somewhat lucky bounce off his off-balance post move as the Sonics took the lead for good. One can see the play from the 5:10-5:23 portion of this highlight video:

Watch on YouTube

The result may well have been a four-point swing. Instead of K.J. shooting two free throws on the other end to give Phoenix a two-point lead, with Kemp fouled out of the game, the Sonics were up by two and Kemp was still in the game. They went on to win 122-115.

The next day, I just appreciated the game and the drama—the electrifying comeback, the surreal Chapman shot, the chance to eliminate the Sonics in overtime. It had been an incredible game, and although the Suns would now need to win a winner-take-all game in Seattle, the series was not over.

Looking back now, I still cherish those memories viscerally, but intellectually, I wonder what might have been had Kemp not gotten away with fouls against K.J. on two consecutive possessions. The Suns may well have knocked off the Sonics and never needed to return to Seattle. Instead, they would have traveled to Houston to face the Rockets and old friend Charles Barkley in the Western Conference Semifinals—what a matchup that would have been. As with the Sonics, Phoenix had defeated the Rockets twice in the the regular season's closing weeks as the Suns won eleven straight games. Barkley had not played in the first contest and had just come off the injured list before the second game, but the Suns possessed a major advantage in terms of speed and quickness. With Johnson and Kidd starting together, and with the Suns starting three guards and often playing four guards simultaneously, they enjoyed an edge in speed and quickness over everyone, but that advantage proved more pronounced against Houston. The Rockets started four players who were thirty-three or older, their three main reserves were thirty-four or older, and their starting point guard was the undrafted, unathletic (by NBA standards) rookie Matt Maloney out of the University of Pennsylvania.

Instead, Seattle would end up playing Houston, but even as the Sonics advanced to the second round, few would forget the series—and the shot—that they had just survived.

Watch on YouTube

[Jarlaxle0204]

As a fan of the Phoenix Suns who lives in NY, these games have always been on pretty late for me. I remember watching "the shot" live at 16 years old, late at night in my small house while my mother, father, and sister were all asleep. The dichotomy between my overflowing emotions as I jumped around the house fist pumping the air while not saying a word because I couldn't wake anyone up or I'd be in a decent amount of trouble still must have been a sight to see. I remember going to the playground all summer long and trying to launch shots from 3 like Chapman. One of my fondest moments as a Suns fan.

[bwgood77]

When I heard on tv this would be the first time Washington got to the ECF if they win the next game since 79, I pulled up the playoffs that year, because I thought they had played the Sonics in the finals, which they did. The Sonics beat them in 5.

What I didn't know is that we played Seattle in the WCF and it went 7 games, and we won game 3, 4 and 5 to take a 3-2 lead with game 6 at home. Then we lost game 6 by 1 at home. That must have been a brutal loss. Then we lose game 7 by 4.

I never even knew about that season ending in such brutal fashion. Reminds me of 95 to some extent. That Westphal, Davis, Robinson, Adams core was a good one.

I was also surprised to see Houston and San Antonio were in the EC. Why didn't it stay that way? Would have been great for us over the years.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/1979-nba-western-conference-finals-suns-vs-supersonics.html

'

[DirtyDez]

When I heard on tv this would be the first time Washington got to the ECF if they win the next game since 79, I pulled up the playoffs that year, because I thought they had played the Sonics in the finals, which they did. The Sonics beat them in 5.

What I didn't know is that we played Seattle in the WCF and it went 7 games, and we won game 3, 4 and 5 to take a 3-2 lead with game 6 at home. Then we lost game 6 by 1 at home. That must have been a brutal loss. Then we lose game 7 by 4.

I never even knew about that season ending in such brutal fashion. Reminds me of 95 to some extent. That Westphal, Davis, Robinson, Adams core was a good one.

I was also surprised to see Houston and San Antonio were in the EC. Why didn't it stay that way? Would have been great for us over the years.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/1979-nba-western-conference-finals-suns-vs-supersonics.html

'

They also went to the Conferences Finals in 84' and lost to the Lakers in 6. That was the year following the Dennis Johnson for Rick Robey trade. I know DJ got into with MacLeod but Rick Freaking Robey??

[bwgood77]

When I heard on tv this would be the first time Washington got to the ECF if they win the next game since 79, I pulled up the playoffs that year, because I thought they had played the Sonics in the finals, which they did. The Sonics beat them in 5.

What I didn't know is that we played Seattle in the WCF and it went 7 games, and we won game 3, 4 and 5 to take a 3-2 lead with game 6 at home. Then we lost game 6 by 1 at home. That must have been a brutal loss. Then we lose game 7 by 4.

I never even knew about that season ending in such brutal fashion. Reminds me of 95 to some extent. That Westphal, Davis, Robinson, Adams core was a good one.

I was also surprised to see Houston and San Antonio were in the EC. Why didn't it stay that way? Would have been great for us over the years.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/1979-nba-western-conference-finals-suns-vs-supersonics.html

'

They also went to the Conferences Finals in 84' and lost to the Lakers in 6. That was the year following the Dennis Johnson for Rick Robey trade. I know DJ got into with MacLeod but Rick Freaking Robey??

Yeah, that's definitely the worst player for player trade ever. Maybe the worst trade ever, though trading what could be the 4th pick this year or the first one next year is probably the worst. Since we don't know what the exact result of what we gave up is yet, it might not end up that bad, but it's still probably the worst, either way, because we will have given up a lottery pick, and probably a high one for Knight, who may have the worst contract we have ever given and he isn't even playing. Though the context of the one you mentioned, knowing that DJ could have very well been the difference in that series is very bad too. I can't imagine how nice it would feel knowing we could have two top 4-6 picks this year would be though.

[Zelaznyrules]

The first few years of his career you couldn't hear Dennis Johnson's name mentioned without someone referring to him as "the most underrated player in the game". At some point though, I think he went from being the most underrated to being the most overrated. IMO he wasn't much better than slightly above average but he was a perfect fit for that offensive rich Boston squad. Still, you hear him talked about like an early version of Gary Payton and that's far too generous AFAIC.

But Rick Robey? Red really put one over on us there. I guess a lot of us didn't really distinguish much between their two power forwards, figured Robey was just being held back by the presence of an elite pf. Man were we wrong. It figures though as our biggest mistakes through the years have almost always been due to our quest for a quality big.

[bwgood77]

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[Frank Lee]

The first few years of his career you couldn't hear Dennis Johnson's name mentioned without someone referring to him as "the most underrated player in the game". At some point though, I think he went from being the most underrated to being the most overrated. IMO he wasn't much better than slightly above average but he was a perfect fit for that offensive rich Boston squad. Still, you hear him talked about like an early version of Gary Payton and that's far too generous AFAIC.

But Rick Robey? Red really put one over on us there. I guess a lot of us didn't really distinguish much between their two power forwards, figured Robey was just being held back by the presence of an elite pf. Man were we wrong. It figures though as our biggest mistakes through the years have almost always been due to our quest for a quality big.

Though that one deal goes down as an ALL TIME Worst/Best, the Suns didn't do too bad in the quest for big guys.... JC did acquire Gar Heard, Truck Robinson, Mo Lucas, Tom Chambers, and Charles Barkley at times when he needed them. Add in short run Shac, James Edwards, Rich Kelly and Dennis Awtry as legit Cs too. Then again the teeter totters the other way when you remember Puke L******, Googs, and the McDyes debacle.

One deal I never was able to stomach was Westphal for DJ straight up. Westy was the most complete guard we have ever had. I dont recall if his play was slipping or not, but it was said he questioned the mighty McLeod, then was shown the door. Not that I didn't like DJ, but man, Westy was the face, and charter member of the All-Time-Best-Tan-Team. (Wetphal, Buse, Marjele, Adams, Chambers... Nothing like poolside in December)

That was my heyday team.... Westy, Buse, Davis, Robinson, and Adams. Probably went to 60-70 games from 78-80.... I think it was 6-7 bucks for GA seats. One season we slid down to the hockey rink 1st row across from opposing bench at half time...then found out the people never came, ever....so we would get to the arena hour before the game, before the ushers,...then befriended the ticket checker in our section. Ha... that was a bargain season. BTW, Sweet D is/was still one of my favorite dudes to watch. Al dubbed him the best nickname OAT...'The Man with the Velvet Touch' . The madhouse has a special place with me. Is it still standing??? .

[Zelaznyrules]

The first few years of his career you couldn't hear Dennis Johnson's name mentioned without someone referring to him as "the most underrated player in the game". At some point though, I think he went from being the most underrated to being the most overrated. IMO he wasn't much better than slightly above average but he was a perfect fit for that offensive rich Boston squad. Still, you hear him talked about like an early version of Gary Payton and that's far too generous AFAIC.

But Rick Robey? Red really put one over on us there. I guess a lot of us didn't really distinguish much between their two power forwards, figured Robey was just being held back by the presence of an elite pf. Man were we wrong. It figures though as our biggest mistakes through the years have almost always been due to our quest for a quality big.

Though that one deal goes down as an ALL TIME Worst/Best, the Suns didn't do too bad in the quest for big guys.... JC did acquire Gar Heard, Truck Robinson, Mo Lucas, Tom Chambers, and Charles Barkley at times when he needed them. Add in short run Shac, James Edwards, Rich Kelly and Dennis Awtry as legit Cs too. Then again the teeter totters the other way when you remember Puke L******, Googs, and the McDyes debacle.

One deal I never was able to stomach was Westphal for DJ straight up. Westy was the most complete guard we have ever had. I dont recall if his play was slipping or not, but it was said he questioned the mighty McLeod, then was shown the door. Not that I didn't like DJ, but man, Westy was the face, and charter member of the All-Time-Best-Tan-Team. (Wetphal, Buse, Marjele, Adams, Chambers... Nothing like poolside in December)

That was my heyday team.... Westy, Buse, Davis, Robinson, and Adams. Probably went to 60-70 games from 78-80.... I think it was 6-7 bucks for GA seats. One season we slid down to the hockey rink 1st row across from opposing bench at half time...then found out the people never came, ever....so we would get to the arena hour before the game, before the ushers,...then befriended the ticket checker in our section. Ha... that was a bargain season. BTW, Sweet D is/was still one of my favorite dudes to watch. Al dubbed him the best nickname OAT...'The Man with the Velvet Touch' . The madhouse has a special place with me. Is it still standing??? .

Yeah, I hated that Westy trade too. The rumors were that Paul was complaining a lot about being yanked from the game without regard to score or whether he was on a roll, JM substituted on a schedule and seemingly could care less about anything other than that schedule. I don't know how true that was but it sure seemed like it. But I was never much of a Buse fan, I thought we lost a lot of our heart when we traded Sobers for Don. Sobers wasn't great but he was the perfect complement to Paul as he could come in and play physical against guys like Lionel Hollins who tended to beat the heck out of Westphal.

I loved the Madhouse too, I think it's still standing but I've been gone from the area for more than 3 decades now. I know it helped shelter Katrina victims and as far as I know, the State Fair still has shows there. And Sweet D has always been near the top of my favorite's list.

[YFZblu]

As a fan of the Phoenix Suns who lives in NY, these games have always been on pretty late for me. I remember watching "the shot" live at 16 years old, late at night in my small house while my mother, father, and sister were all asleep. The dichotomy between my overflowing emotions as I jumped around the house fist pumping the air while not saying a word because I couldn't wake anyone up or I'd be in a decent amount of trouble still must have been a sight to see. I remember going to the playground all summer long and trying to launch shots from 3 like Chapman. One of my fondest moments as a Suns fan.

Same. I was 13 years old, and my Dad woke me up to catch the end of the close game. When Chapman hit the shot, our celebration terrified our dog who ran upstairs and woke my Mom up. She promptly came downstairs and scolded us for being so loud and inconsiderate. My Dad and I were way too excited to hear any of it. Great memory!