A report by Arizona Republic Suns beat writer Paul Coro from last Thursday sheds some light on the once-unthinkable Steve Nash-to-the-Lakers deal that happened earlier this week. The biggest takeaway from it is that Phoenix, even as it was extremely cautious about sending him to a rival, did nothing on its own to keep Nash. Once end-of-season processing was finished and it became clear to Nash the Suns weren’t going to build a winner around their two-time MVP point guard, management never gave Nash an offer or asked him to meet about one. Read More »

It has come to this. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul have made up their minds: we will lose the season if the owners try to force them to make any more concessions. They won’t mind the missed games; they’re refusing to budge anymore. Of course, they aren’t worried. Those stars will be fine either way. But what about everyone else? They’ve made the stance that they won’t go lower than the 53 percent (down from 57 percent in the last CBA) of the share on the basketball related income and that the owners need to come meet them. How much blame should David Stern get in this? Depends. While most contend he desperately wants to avoid any missed games, Stern also got into a shouting match with Wade during one of the meetings because of his bullying tactics and the way he was speaking to the players. Read More »

Words. Dave Dulberg

During a troubling time in the state’s sports scene, Arizona’s aficionados are comforted by the grace in his fadeaway jump shot, the unnatural ease by which he floats through the lane and the work ethic he puts on display hours before the US Airways Center is even near capacity. Steve Nash isn’t just a two-time MVP or a seven-time All-Star, he’s the face of not only a fading Phoenix Suns team, but of a city whose professional sports identity has withered away in recent years as iconic stars like Luis Gonzalez, Randy Johnson and Kurt Warner quietly walked away when their ticking clocks finally wound down.

But with Nash’s Suns falling further behind in the Western Conference standings (15-21), currently sitting in the uncomfortable position of 11th place, where does Suns owner Robert Sarver and Co. go from here? Perhaps Chris Webber was right: It may finally be time to “Free Steve Nash.” Read More »

The Phoenix Suns have rolled through three general managers, three coaches and a slew of All-Stars and talented role players since 2005. After the sale of the franchise from long-time sports owner Jerry Colangelo to businessman Robert Sarver, this question looms: How much time does a team under new ownership need to settle down?

Composing winning teams in the NBA means team ownership must pair talented players with adaptable coaches. But championship-caliber teams keep those pieces static. Retaining players and coaches requires that the ownership have patience and trust in everyone in the organization –- no panicking allowed. Read More »

With Mikhail Prokhorov making waves around the League, and showing just how important an owner can be to a team’s success, we decided to rank the five best and five worst owners in the NBA based on their popularity with fans and players as well as their team’s on-court performance. Read More »

As the Suns’ season came to a close on Saturday while Kobe hit impossible shot after impossible shot, spectators may also have seen Amar’e Stoudemire for the last time in a Phoenix uniform. For Suns fans, the Suns team and Stoudemire, hopefully that is not the case. The Suns need Stoudemire in order to most effectively thrive in their fast-paced offense, and STAT needs the Suns’ style to showcase and maximize his skill set. This team and player are a match made in heaven, and Stoudemire, along with Suns owner Robert Sarver, need to realize that. Read More »

If you’re looking for one lap to dump all the blame for why the Suns didn’t even get a chance to get a “Gone Fishing” graphic, you’ve got options: Terry Porter for stubbornly sticking to a system that his star players never bought into; Steve Nash and Amar’e for stubbornly refusing to buy into that system; Read More »