The woman was dressed like someone from the 1960s, a hippie, and those in the basketball offices weren’t sure of her intentions. She demanded to see Cotton Fitzsimmons, who on this afternoon during the 1990-91 season, coached the Phoenix Suns.

A receptionist informed the woman Fitzsimmons was unavailable, which was not the answer the woman wanted to hear.

Upset, she threatened to put a curse on the organization that would prevent the Suns from ever winning a championship. Escorted from the building, the woman jumped into a truck, backed into a chain-link fence and sped off, nearly pulling the fence with her.

“Did she have enough time to invoke her curse?” former Suns PR man Tom Ambrose wrote in “Notes from the WACKO! File: And Tales from the Madhouse on McDowell,” his entertaining book. “No one can say for sure …”

Three decades later, it’s safe to wonder.

When the Suns open their first-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday, they will do so with membership in an unfortunate club. They are one of 10 NBA organizations that have never won an NBA championship.

It’s not that Phoenix has failed to field capable teams, it’s just that whenever those teams have looked the part or gotten close, a roadblock has emerged. A league suspension. A season- or series-altering injury. Bad timing.

“Not that I carry these things with me forever, but I do,” former Suns president and owner Jerry Colangelo said during a recent conversation about the franchise’s near misses.

Through 56 seasons, Phoenix has posted the NBA’s fifth-best winning percentage. The Suns have advanced to the NBA Finals three times and played in the Western Conference finals on seven other occasions.

Yet several times, they have walked off the court, eliminated, cursing their luck and wondering what went wrong.

“There’s that old saying that Phoenix won’t win because the weather’s too nice,” said Kyle Macy, who played for the Suns in the 1980s. “Players lose their edge and they’re not tough enough. I don’t know if I buy into that theory, but it’s kind of interesting. But you gotta believe it will happen. It’s just a matter of time.”

Suns lay an egg

For their first 24 years, the Suns played in Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, or as legendary broadcaster Chick Hearn first called it, “The Madhouse on McDowell.” Of all the characters in the organization’s history, the Coliseum ranks among the biggest.

Built in 1964, it had a unique saddle-shaped, tension-cable roof that sometimes leaked. A ceiling panel once fell during a game. The 14,870-capacity arena had an intimate feel and distinct smell. Fans sat so close players could hear their every word. And inhale their cigarette smoke.

“It was a much different society back then,” said Mike Bratz, who played for the Suns from 1977-1980. “It got really smoky in the rafters. Just about every game you could see smoke up there.”

The Suns found quick success in the Madhouse. In their second season, they made the playoffs and took a 3-1 series lead against a Los Angeles Lakers team featuring Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor and Jerry West. The Lakers rallied and advanced, but Phoenix had a foundation.

Six years later, the Suns advanced to the finals, losing to Boston in a series remembered for the Celtics’ triple-overtime win in Game 5, considered among the great games in NBA history. The surprising run galvanized the community and put Phoenix, which then had just one pro sports team, on the map.

 

But the Suns wouldn’t return to the finals for another 17 years.

In 1979, they advanced to the Western Conference finals to play a Seattle team that featured Gus Williams, Dennis Johnson and Jack Sikma. The Suns had a 3-2 series lead entering Game 6 in the Coliseum but failed to put Seattle away.

In 1980, Phoenix won a then-franchise-record 55 games but lost in the conference semifinals to the Lakers, who featured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and rookie Magic Johnson.

In 1981, Phoenix secured its first Pacific division title, but a narrative had formed. The Suns were soft. After Phoenix lost back-to-back games in late March, Lakers center Jim Chones predicted a short playoff run.

“It seems to me they’re choking down the stretch as they always do,” he told reporters.

Suns head coach John MacLeod read the comments to his team. It did little good. The Kansas City Kings upset Phoenix in seven games in the first round. A headline in The Arizona Republic summed up the season:

“Suns lay an Easter egg.”

No longer afraid

By this time, “Showtime” was in full effect. From 1982 to 1989, Magic, Kareem and James Worthy helped the Lakers reach the finals seven times, winning four championships. Four times in that stretch they eliminated the Suns.

“I guess I should hate the Lakers because they have been one of the toughest teams on me through my coaching career,” Fitzsimmons said after the Lakers swept the Suns in the 1989 conference finals. “But I don’t. I kind of like them because they always get the job done when they have to, and they do it with class. You can deal with that.”

Per StatMuse, the Suns posted the NBA’s seventh-best record in the 1980s, but for most of the decade, they had little to show for it. That changed in 1990.

A Phoenix team featuring Tom Chambers, Kevin Johnson, Jeff Hornacek and Dan Majerle won 54 games that season, finishing third in the Pacific. After defeating Utah in the first round, the fifth-seeded Suns met the Lakers.


Magic Johnson and the Lakers ousted Phoenix several times in the 1980’s. But Dan Majerle and the Suns finally broke through in 1990 on a run to the Western Conference finals. (Bob Galbraith / AP)

This time the Suns had too much. Chambers, Johnson and Hornacek all averaged 20 points in the series. The Suns prevailed in five games, their first series win over the Lakers in two decades.

Magic Johnson walked into the Suns locker room at The Great Western Forum and embraced Suns forward Kurt Rambis, a former L.A. teammate. “Don’t stop here,” Magic said.

Lakers coach Pat Riley said the Suns were positioned for a dream season. “They’re not afraid anymore,” he said.

A hurdle had been cleared. Kevin Johnson said the Suns wanted to be the team of the 1990s. Fitzsimmons said the Suns could beat any team, anywhere.

But the momentum fizzled. In the conference finals, the Portland Trail Blazers, fueled by Clyde Drexler and Terry Porter, eliminated the Suns in six tight games. Johnson injured his hamstring. As he limped through the locker room, the Phoenix guard spotted a fan who had sneaked inside, trying to steal his uniform and shoes.

What more could go wrong?

“I just feel sick to my stomach,” Hornacek said.

‘Timing is everything’

The Suns needed a closer. In 1992, they got one.

Charles Barkley’s arrival, via a blockbuster trade with Philadelphia, brought not only championship expectations, it produced a buzz this state had never experienced. A superstar. A championship contender. And a new home, America West Arena in downtown Phoenix.

It was the perfect storm. A basketball haboob.

Barkley led the Suns to an NBA-best 62 wins. After dropping the first two games to the Lakers in the playoff’s opening round, the Suns won three in a row to take the series. They eliminated Seattle and San Antonio to reach the franchise’s second NBA Finals, where Michael Jordan awaited.

The Chicago Bulls had won the previous two NBA titles. Against Phoenix, they built a 3-1 series lead. The Suns showed life, winning Game 5 in Chicago, but two days later in Phoenix, Bulls guard John Paxson buried a jumper in the final seconds to give the Bulls title No. 3.

In the locker room, Barkley sat with his head down, white towels draped across his shoulders and legs. He had been so colorful during the regular season, local news outlets had assigned a Barkley beat reporter to document his every move. This time was different. “What I feel right now, I can’t even put into words,” he said.

The best Phoenix team in franchise history had run into the game’s most dominant player. And Jordan had prevailed.

“Timing is everything,” Colangelo said.

Despite the loss, Phoenix held a parade. On a summer day that reached 105 degrees, an estimated 300,000 people turned out to thank the Suns. Barkley was so swarmed he had to leave and wave to the crowd from the safety of a balcony.

Unrestricted free agent Joe Kleine signed with Phoenix two months later and he could still feel the excitement.

“It was nuts,” Kleine recalled. “There was definitely a fever there.”

With Jordan retired (for the first time), Phoenix entered the 1993-94 season as title favorites. They started 21-5 but failed to duplicate the same magic. Barkley battled back and quad injuries. After Phoenix lost to the Houston Rockets in the conference semifinals, the Phoenix star said he was relieved he no longer had to play in pain.

The next season the Suns added All-Star forward Danny Manning, who wanted to play for a contender so badly he signed a one-year contract worth $1 million, far below his market value. The Suns opened 36-10, tied with the Orlando Magic for best in the league. Then during a February practice, Manning planted and tried to elevate against Kleine. His knee buckled. Torn ACL. Out for the season.

Phoenix still won the Pacific. Still swept Portland in the first round. But for the second consecutive season, the Suns could not get past the Rockets and Hakeem Olajuwon in the conference semifinals. Houston went on to win its second title in a row.

“Those two seasons are the worst memories of my whole career,” said Kleine, an NBA veteran of 15 years.

Another championship window closed.

Charles Barkley


Charles Barkley helped power the Suns back to their second NBA Finals appearance in 1993, but they ran into Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls juggernaut. (Mark Elias / AP)

‘I wish I would’ve known’

The rest of the 1990s were mostly forgettable. At one point, Phoenix lost in the first round four seasons in a row.

In 2000, the Suns surged under coach Scott Skiles. They had a solid core with Jason Kidd, Penny Hardaway, Cliff Robinson and Shawn Marion. But the Lakers had Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, two of the game’s biggest stars. After eliminating the Suns in the conference semifinals, they captured the first of three consecutive titles.

Even so, Hardaway made a promise: “We’re going to have a ring within three years. Just remember that,” he said.

A few weeks later, Hardaway had microfracture knee surgery. Although he would return and play parts of six seasons, he was never the same player. But a Phoenix revival was not far off.

In 2004, Mike D’Antoni, a former Italian league star who believed in ball movement, was in charge. Steve Nash ran the offense, Marion filled the lanes and a young big man named Amar’e Stoudemire played above the rim. The Suns played small and tried to get up a shot within the first seven seconds of the shot clock. Picked to finish near the bottom in the West, they shocked the NBA, starting 31-4.

“We started off crazily fast to where we were even looking at each other like, ‘What the hell is going on?’” recalled Quentin Richardson, a starting forward. “We knew we were going to be better than last in the division, but nobody thought we would have the best record and be as good as we were and that it was going to happen so quickly.”

The Suns entered the playoffs as the top seed in the West. After sweeping Memphis in the first round, they had bad luck in the semifinals against Dallas. In Game 2, versatile guard Joe Johnson suffered an orbital fracture after Jerry Stackhouse fouled him on a breakaway. Johnson missed the rest of the series and the first two games of the conference finals against San Antonio, both Phoenix losses. The Spurs eliminated the Suns in five games.

A fairytale season ended with a giant what-if?

“Sometimes you have to lose to figure out how to win,” D’Antoni said.

The next season brought changes. A versatile playmaker, Joe Johnson left for Atlanta in a sign-and-trade deal that left fans questioning ownership. To acquire post defense, Richardson was traded to the Knicks. Worst of all, Stoudemire had microfracture surgery and missed all but three games. The Suns still made the conference finals, but lost to Dallas in six games. Nash earned his second MVP trophy.

But the biggest heartbreak was yet to come.

Phoenix Suns


The skirmish after Robert Horry’s hip check of Steve Nash in the 2007 Western Conference semifinals cost the Suns dearly, with Amar’e Stoudemire and Boris Diaw receiving suspensions. (Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)

In 2007, Stoudemire returned and the Suns rolled to 61 wins. After dismissing the Lakers in the first round, they faced Tim Duncan and the Spurs.

In the fourth quarter of a 104-98 Game 4 win, an effort that knotted the best-of-seven series at two games apiece, Spurs forward Robert Horry delivered a hockey-style check on Nash, knocking the point guard to the floor near the Phoenix bench. A scuffle broke out. D’Antoni rushed over. Stoudemire and key reserve Boris Diaw, both of whom had been on the bench, did so as well.

The NBA suspended Stoudemire and Diaw for Game 5 in Phoenix. The Spurs won that night and sealed the series two days later, a springboard to a championship. To this day, Suns fans are convinced Phoenix would have won if not for the suspensions.

Stoudemire wonders about this, too. Asked recently during a radio interview if he had regrets stemming from his 14-year NBA career, the former Phoenix star didn’t hesitate.

“I wish I would’ve known about this rule that you can’t step on the court if an altercation happens,” he said.

‘The day will come’

From 2011 to 2020, Phoenix failed to make the playoffs. Fans lost faith in owner Robert Sarver (they didn’t have much to start) and with a rebuild that seemed to last forever.

The Suns built around rising star Devin Booker. They drafted a talented big man in Deandre Ayton and acquired talented wings in Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson. In 2020, they traded for Chris Paul, among the league’s top point guards. And suddenly it all came together.

Under coach Monty Williams, the Suns won 51 games in a shortened, 72-game season and advanced to the finals. There, they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in six games, but excitement trumped disappointment.

The Suns were close.

The next season Phoenix ran off a franchise-record 64 wins, finishing with the NBA’s best regular-season mark. The Suns beat the New Orleans Pelicans in Round 1 and took a 3-2 series lead against Luka Dončić and the Dallas Mavericks in the conference semifinals — only to lose by 27 in Game 6 and by 33 in Game 7.

Uh-oh.

In December of 2022, billionaire mortgage lender Mat Ishbia bought the Suns and pledged to do everything possible to produce a title. His first major move was sending Bridges and Cameron Johnson to the Brooklyn Nets in a midseason deal for Kevin Durant. The Suns had star power but not enough time to jell. With Paul missing time with a groin injury, they lost to the Denver Nuggets in the conference semifinals, routed again in the deciding contest, which produced more changes.

Frank Vogel replaced Williams as head coach. The Suns traded for All-Star guard Bradley Beal and big man Jusuf Nurkić. Before this season, Ishbia said he thought Phoenix had the NBA’s best roster. And, yet, the Suns had to rally in the final week to avoid the Play-In Tournament. They are dangerous, yet unpredictable, just like the woman who stormed out of their offices years ago and threatened to place a curse on the franchise.

It makes sense — if you believe that sort of thing.

“The day will come,” Colangelo said of Phoenix’s first championship. “Some believe that when the basketball gods are smiling down on you, that will be the time.”

Bradley Beal, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant


Devin Booker, now paired with Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant, leads the Suns into their latest playoff run this weekend against the Timberwolves. (Christian Petersen / Getty Images)

(Top photo of the Suns’ Grayson Allen, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, Royce O’Neale and Kevin Durant during a game against Sacramento: Ed Szczepanski / USA Today)



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