Phoenix Suns is an American YouTube channel and a NBA basketball team located in Phoenix, Arizona.
History[]
In 1968 the NBA Board of Governors granted franchises to Phoenix and Milwaukee on January 22, 1968, with an entry fee of $2 million. The Suns nickname was among 28,000 entries that were formally chosen in a name-the-team contest sponsored by The Arizona Republic, with the winner awarded $1,000 and season tickets for the inaugural season.[1] Suns was preferred over Scorpions, Rattlers, Thunderbirds, Wranglers, Mavericks, Tumbleweeds, Mustangs and Cougars. Stan Fabe, who owned a commercial printing plant in Tucson, designed the team's first iconic logo for a mere $200.[2]
Jerry Colangelo came over from the Chicago Bulls as the Suns' first general manager at the age of 28, along with Johnny Kerr as head coach. Unlike the first-year success that Colangelo and Kerr had in Chicago, in which the Bulls finished with a first-year expansion record of 33 wins and a playoff berth, Phoenix finished its first year at 16–66, and finished 25 games out of the final playoff spot.[3]
The Suns' last-place finish that season led to a coin flip for the number-one overall pick for the 1969 NBA draft with the expansion-mate Bucks. Milwaukee won the flip, and the rights to draft Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, while Phoenix settled on drafting center Neal Walk. The 1969–70 season posted better results for the Suns, finishing 39–43, but lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs.[4]
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Suns enjoyed the 1981 Pacific Division title, making the playoffs eight consecutive seasons including an appearance at the 1984 Western Conference finals. In 1987, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office indicted 13 people on drug-related charges, three of whom were active Suns' players James Edwards, Jay Humphries and Grant Gondrezick. These indictments were partially based on testimony from Walter Davis. No defendants ever went to trial, two of the players went into a prosecution diversion program, while another received probation. The scandal did provide an opening for Jerry Colangelo to lead a group that bought the team from its owners for $44 million at the start of the 1987–88 season. With a drug scandal and the loss of promising Nick Vanos, the franchise was in trouble both on and off the court.[5]
Channel[]
The Phoenix Suns channel was created on January 2, 2007. Their first video was uploaded on March 16, 2012. Their first video is titled "Introducing Suns Cryo-Chamber".
References[]
- ↑ https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/23115/origins-all-30-nba-team-names
- ↑ https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nba/suns/2018/01/22/phoenix-milwaukee-awarded-nba-expansion-franchises-50-years-ago/1056335001/
- ↑ http://www.nba.com/suns/news/tribune_040910.html
- ↑ http://archive.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/20121116coin-flip-changed-lot-phoenix-suns-los-angeles-lakers.html
- ↑ http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/20160124_76ers__Colangelo_has_seen_trouble_before.html
