1996–97 Phoenix Suns season
Professional basketball season / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The 1996–97 NBA season was the 29th season for the Phoenix Suns in the National Basketball Association.[1] This season is notable for the Suns drafting Steve Nash out of Santa Clara University with the fifteenth overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft.[2][3][4][5] During the off-season, the team acquired Sam Cassell, Robert Horry, Mark Bryant and Chucky Brown from the Houston Rockets,[6][7][8][9] and signed free agent Rex Chapman.[10][11][12] However, the Suns struggled losing their first 13 games of the season, as Kevin Johnson missed the first eleven games with a hernia injury.[13][14][15] After an 0–8 start, head coach Cotton Fitzsimmons resigned and was replaced by former Suns guard Danny Ainge,[16][17][18] who led the team to a 40–34 finish. Along the way, there were many in-season moves such as trading Cassell, second-year star Michael Finley and A.C. Green, to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for All-Star guard Jason Kidd, second-year center Loren Meyer and Tony Dumas,[19][20][21][22][23] sending Horry along with Joe Kleine to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for former Suns forward Cedric Ceballos and Rumeal Robinson,[24][25][26][27] who was released to free agency after a short stint with the team, and trading Brown to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Darrin Hancock, who never played for the Suns and was released to free agency.[28]
1996–97 Phoenix Suns season | |||
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Head coach |
| ||
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 | First round (lost to SuperSonics 2–3) | ||
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |||
Local media | |||
Television | |||
Radio | KTAR | ||
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The Suns held a 17–31 record at the All-Star break,[29] but played above .500 for the remainder of the season. It was a season that would not be matched in terms of moves until both the 2014–15 and the 2015–16 seasons came and went. Still, the Suns finished fourth in the Pacific Division with a 40–42 record.[30] 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. Not only that, but they would also be the first team to record a 10+ game winning streak after recording a 10+ game losing streak earlier in the season, posting an 11-game winning streak between March and April.[30]
Johnson led the Suns with 20.1 points, 9.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game, while Chapman averaged 13.8 points per game, and sixth man Danny Manning provided the team with 13.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game off the bench. In addition, Wesley Person contributed 13.5 points per game, and led the team with 171 three-point field goals, while Bryant provided with 9.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, but only played just 41 games due to an abdominal strain injury,[31] and Hot Rod Williams averaged 8.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.[32]
As the #7 seed in the Western Conference, the Suns faced the 2nd-seeded Seattle SuperSonics in the Western Conference First Round of the playoffs, taking a 2–1 series lead,[33][34][35] but then losing 2–3 in a closely contested series.[36][37][38][39] Following the season, Person was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a three-team trade,[40][41][42][43] and Wayman Tisdale retired.