Phoenix Suns

Phoenix Suns
2023–24 Phoenix Suns season
Conference	Western
Division	Pacific
Founded	1968
History	Phoenix Suns 1968–present[1][2]
Arena	Footprint Center
Location	Phoenix, Arizona
Team colors	Purple, orange, black, gray, yellow[3][4][5]
Main sponsor	PayPal[6]
President	James Jones[7]
General manager	James Jones[8]
Head coach	Mike Budenholzer
Ownership	Mat and Justin Ishbia
Affiliation(s)	Valley Suns
Championships	0
Conference titles	3 (1976, 1993, 2021)
Division titles	8 (1981, 1993, 1995, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2021, 2022)
Retired numbers	11 (5, 6, 7, 9, 13, 24, 31, 32, 33, 34, 42, 44)
Website	www.nba.com/suns
Association Icon Statement

The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They are the only team in their division not to be based in California. The Suns play their home games at the Footprint Center. The Suns are one of three major league sports teams based in the Phoenix area, but are the only one to bill themselves as representing the city (the Cardinals and Diamondbacks both bill themselves as representing the state of Arizona).

The franchise began play in 1968 as an expansion team. Though their early years were mired in mediocrity, their fortunes changed in the 1970s after partnering Dick Van Arsdale and Alvan Adams with Paul Westphal. The team reached the 1976 NBA Finals, in what is considered to be one of the biggest upsets in NBA history. However, after failing to capture a championship, the Suns would rebuild around Walter Davis for a majority of the 1980s, until the acquisition of Kevin Johnson in 1988.

Under Johnson, and after trading for perennial NBA All-Star Charles Barkley, and combined with the output of Tom Chambers and Dan Majerle, the Suns reached the playoffs for a franchise-record thirteen consecutive appearances and remained a regular title contender throughout the 1990s, and reached the 1993 NBA Finals. However, the team would again fail to win a championship, and entered into another period of mediocrity until the early 2000s.

In 2004, the Suns signed free agent Steve Nash (who had blossomed for the Dallas Mavericks after being traded from Phoenix six years earlier), and returned into playoff contention. With Nash, Shawn Marion, and Amar'e Stoudemire, and under head coach Mike D'Antoni, the Suns became renowned worldwide for their quick, dynamic offense, which led them to tie a franchise record in wins in the 2004–05 season. Two more top two Conference placements followed, but the Suns again failed to attain an NBA championship, and were forced into another rebuild.

After ten consecutive seasons without a playoff berth, the Suns reached the 2021 NBA Finals after acquiring Chris Paul, who formed a quartet with their young core of Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges. In 2023, the Suns acquired 13-time All-Star and two-time NBA champion Kevin Durant and three-time All-Star Bradley Beal.

The Suns own the NBA's fifth-best all-time winning percentage, have the second highest winning percentage of any team to have never won an NBA championship, and have the most NBA Finals appearances (three) without a championship.^[9][10] 11 Hall of Famers have played for Phoenix, while two — Barkley and Nash — won NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) while playing for the team. Additionally, their Gowdy Award Winning radio announcer Al McCoy is the longest-tenured broadcaster in NBA history.^[11]