Are you ready for the Phoenix Suns youth movement?

I’m not talking about on the court, although that is well underway too. No, I’m talking about the Suns’ front office.

With the hiring of the 33-year-old Ryan McDonough as general manager, the Suns have proven they are willing to think fresh and add younger blood to the front office. From a selfish standpoint, I love the move for the pure fact that there is now a member of the basketball operations staff that will get my bad ‘80s and ‘90s pop-culture references. (Example: Goran Dragic is schooling the competition more than Mr. Feeny schooled Cory and Shawn.) Then again, maybe even he won’t get those obscure thoughts. [Read more...]

As a Phoenix Suns fan who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s there is one shot that has always stood out in my mind as the craziest shot ever made in Suns history. (Mind you, I didn’t say the best. That will be a title always held by the Shot Heard Round the World from the 1976 Finals.)

This shot came 20 years ago, April 22, in Portland. In a bizarre turn of events, with the Suns down one, Charles Barkley caught a ball at his ankles with .5 seconds on the clock and flipped it in for the Suns win. I had a chance to catch up with Charles Barkley recently and he broke down the play. Check it out in the video above.

Just because our Suns aren’t in the playoffs doesn’t mean we shouldn’t pay attention. As a matter of fact, we should probably pick a team to support while you’re forced listen to Rihanna on loop during the 40 games in 40 nights. (Editor’s Note: Dear Turner, Please do not remove said reference even though you run our websites.)

Picking a team that isn’t your own to root for isn’t something you do at random though. There is a science to it. You have to consider a team’s history against the Suns, if there are former members of the Suns on the team, are there any enemies of the Suns state on the roster and would it hurt the Suns franchise in the future if this team won.

With that criteria in mind, let me help you navigate each of the first round match ups to figure out who we all should be rooting for in this Suns Fans Guide to the NBA Playoffs’ first round. [Read more...]

I want to see Brittney Griner in a Phoenix Mercury uniform this summer. It’s not for selfish reasons either.

It means the talk that has dominated many basketball circles this week has been just that, talk. It means Griner gets to become what she’s destined to be, one of the best women’s basketball players in the history of the game in one of the premier women’s leagues in the world. It means we can appreciate her for her skill set and not as some sideshow.

Griner doesn’t need the NBA, even if a certain NBA maverick really does want to give her a shot. She doesn’t need the NBA just because it doesn’t have a W in front of it. If you’ve listened to the national debate being waged online and on cable sports networks, you would almost think that this is a challenge the Baylor standout has to accept and conquer to prove herself. [Read more...]

At 23-51, Suns fans probably feel like the playoff picture doesn’t much apply to their team.

For fans of other franchises in similar predicaments that may be true, but for fans in the Valley the next two weeks and the playoff picture may mean more to us than to the fan bases of the teams actually involved.

It sounds a little crazy to say – or is that type – out loud, but over the next 16 nights Suns fans might need to root even harder for the Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz than their hometown team. OK, so Suns fans might not have to go that far, but they should at least be in favor of usual foes becoming friends for the remainder of the season. [Read more...]