1997–98 Phoenix Suns season

The 1997–98 Phoenix Suns season was the 30th season for the Phoenix Suns in the National Basketball Association.

Season summary

Off-season During the off-season, the Suns acquired Antonio McDyess from the Denver Nuggets in a three-team trade, and signed free agents Clifford Robinson, and George McCloud. The team also signed former Suns, and All-Star forward Tom Chambers, who played for the team from 1988 to 1993, and also appeared in the 1993 NBA Finals; however, he was out due to a lower strained back injury prior to the regular season. In November, Chambers got into trouble after punching Suns strength and conditioning coach Robin Pound during an altercation, and was soon traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Slovenian rookie small forward Marko Milič; Chambers would play one game for the 76ers before retiring from the NBA in December.

Regular season In Danny Ainge's first full season as the team's head coach, and with the addition of McDyess and Robinson, the Suns won nine of their first eleven games of the regular season, and later on held a 31–15 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team traded Cedric Ceballos to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for three-point specialist Dennis Scott; before the trade, Ceballos averaged 9.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game in 35 games. The Suns posted a 10-game winning streak between March and April, won eleven of their final twelve games of the season, and finished in third place in the Pacific Division with a 56–26 record, earning the fourth seed in the Western Conference; the team qualified for the NBA playoffs for the tenth consecutive year.

The team's top scorer Rex Chapman led the Suns with 15.9 points per game, and 120 three-point field goals, while McDyess averaged 15.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game, and Robinson provided the team with 14.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. In addition, Jason Kidd contributed 11.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 9.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game, while sixth man Danny Manning averaged 13.5 points and 5.6 rebounds per game off the bench, and was named the NBA Sixth Man of the Year, and Kevin Johnson averaged 9.5 points and 4.9 assists per game, but only played just 50 games, starting in just 12 of them due to tendinitis in his right knee. Meanwhile, second-year guard Steve Nash provided with 9.1 points and 3.4 assists per game, McCloud contributed 7.2 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, Scott contributed 6.2 points per game in 29 games after the trade, Mark Bryant averaged 4.2 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, and Hot Rod Williams provided with 3.6 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, Kidd was selected for the 1998 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Western Conference All-Star team. Meanwhile, Nash participated in the inaugural NBA 2Ball Competition, along with Michele Timms of the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury. Kidd also finished tied in 13th place in Most Valuable Player voting, while Ainge finished tied in fifth place in Coach of the Year voting.

The Suns finished ninth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 779,943 at the America West Arena during the regular season.

NBA playoffs In the Western Conference First Round of the 1998 NBA playoffs, the Suns faced off against the 5th–seeded San Antonio Spurs, who were led by All-Star center David Robinson, All-Star forward and Rookie of the Year, Tim Duncan, and Avery Johnson. Despite both teams finishing with the same regular-season record, the Suns had home-court advantage in the series; however, the team was without Manning, who was out due to a season-ending knee injury. The Suns lost Game 1 to the Spurs at home, 102–96 at the America West Arena, but managed to win Game 2 at home, 108–101 to even the series. However, the Suns lost the next two games on the road, which included a Game 4 loss to the Spurs at the Alamodome, 99–80, thus losing the series in four games.

Notable highlights One notable highlight of the regular season occurred on November 14, 1997, in which the Suns defeated the Portland Trail Blazers on the road in quadruple-overtime, 140–139 at the Rose Garden Arena. Manning posted a double-double of 35 points and 10 rebounds off the bench, while Chapman scored 28 points, and McDyess added 17 points; Johnson posted a double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds, and Kidd contributed 16 assists and 5 steals.

Aftermath Following the season, McDyess re-signed as a free agent with his former team, the Denver Nuggets after only one season with the Suns, while Kevin Johnson retired after eleven seasons in the NBA, but would eventually make a comeback late during the 1999–2000 season. Meanwhile, Nash was traded to the Dallas Mavericks on draft day, Williams signed as a free agent with the Mavericks, Scott signed with the New York Knicks, and Bryant was traded to the Chicago Bulls.

Offseason

NBA draft

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 2 43 Stephen Jackson SF/SG Butler CC

The Suns used their only draft pick to select future star Stephen Jackson, who was waived before the start of the season. The Suns traded their first-round pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1995 when they dealt Dan Majerle and Antonio Lang for John "Hot Rod" Williams.

Roster

Roster Notes Center Mike Brown did not play in any regular season games with the Suns this season, due to previously playing overseas in Italy. However, he was re-signed by the team on April 18, 1998, just one day before the final day of the regular season, and only played in one playoff game. Center Loren Meyer was on the injured reserve list due to a back injury, and missed the entire regular season.

Salaries Player Salary Kevin Johnson$8,000,000 Danny Manning$6,833,333 Jason Kidd$5,223,333 Hot Rod Williams$4,550,000 Antonio McDyess $2,876,640 Cedric Ceballos$2,605,000 Mark Bryant$2,250,000 Steve Nash$1,053,360 Clifford Robinson$1,000,000 Loren Meyer$722,760 Mario Bennett$630,000 Rex Chapman$326,700 Tom Chambers$272,250 George McCloud$272,250 Horacio Llamas$272,250 William Cunningham$50,000 Total $36,937,876

Regular season

Standings

Playoffs Even with a 56–26 record, the Suns were the fourth seed in the West heading into the Playoffs. They would face the fifth-seeded San Antonio Spurs, headlined by star center David Robinson and Rookie of the Year forward Tim Duncan. Duncan led the Spurs to a game one upset in Phoenix, scoring 28 second-half points in a 102–96 victory. The Suns recovered to win game two 108–101. Antonio McDyess led the Suns with 21 points and 11 rebounds, while holding Duncan to 16 points with six turnovers. On the night he received the Rookie of the Year Award, Duncan again led the Spurs with 22 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocks. Despite 26 points and 17 rebounds from McDyess, the Suns fell 88–100 and into a 1–2 series hole. The Spurs would clinch the series 3–1 in San Antonio, behind 30 points from Avery Johnson, 21 rebounds from Robinson, and 6 blocks from Duncan. McDyess pulled down 19 rebounds for the Suns, but shot only 5 of 14 from the field, while Kevin Johnson led the team with 18 points.

Game log

Awards and honors

Week/Month Jason Kidd was named Player of the Week for games played March 8 through March 14. Jason Kidd was named Player of the Week for games played April 12 through April 18.

All-Star Jason Kidd was selected as a reserve for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. It was his second All-Star selection. Kidd finished fifth in voting among Western Conference guards with 305,834 votes.

Season Danny Manning was awarded the Sixth Man of the Year Award. Jason Kidd finished in 13th place in MVP voting.

Injuries/Missed games 10/28/97: George McCloud: Deep knee bruise; did not play 10/30/97: Loren Meyer: Lumbar spine surgery; placed on injured reserve for season 10/30/97: Tom Chambers; Strained lower back; placed on injured list until November 21 10/31/97: George McCloud: Concussion; did not play 11/20/97: Horacio Llamas: Strained lower back; placed on injured list until January 30 12/02/97: Kevin Johnson: Right knee tendinitis; out until December 11 12/09/97: George McCloud: Flu; did not play 12/09/97: Rex Chapman: Strained left hamstring; out until December 16 12/11/97: Kevin Johnson: Right knee tendinitis; placed on injured list until January 31 12/26/97: George McCloud: Thigh bruise; did not play 12/26/97: Brooks Thompson: Ill; did not play 12/29/97: Danny Manning: Abdominal strain; out until January 12 01/04/98: Jason Kidd: Sprained right ankle; left game 01/18/98: Hot Rod Williams; Flu, did not play 01/30/98: Cedric Ceballos: Strained right calf; placed on injured list until February 12 02/12/98: Horacio Llamas: Bruised left heel; placed on injured list until April 9 02/17/98: Rex Chapman: Sprained left ankle; did not play 02/22/98: Steve Nash: Did not play 03/05/98: Rex Chapman: Sore right foot; out until March 13 03/09/98: Antonio McDyess: Suspended one game for fighting Hakeem Olajuwon on March 7; did not play 03/13/98: Mark Bryant: Flu; out until March 17 03/25/98: Rex Chapman: Pulled right groin; out until April 4 04/06/98: Steve Nash: Did not play 04/09/98: Danny Manning: Injured right ACL; placed on injured list, out for season 04/18/98: Rex Chapman: Aggravated left hamstring; placed on injured reserve until April 23 04/23/98: Rex Chapman: Aggravated left hamstring; did not play 04/29/98: Rex Chapman: Aggravated left hamstring; did not play

Player statistics

Season PlayerGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG 70 22 15.9 .484 .000 .768 3.5 0.7 .5 .2 4.2 * 35 16 17.9 .500 .300 .714 4.3 1.0 .6 .2 9.5 68 67 33.3 .427 .386 .781 2.5 3.0 1.0 .2 15.9 50 12 25.8 .447 .154 .871 3.3 4.9 .5 .2 9.5 82 82 38.0 .416 .313 .799 6.2 9.1 2.0 .3 11.6 8 0 5.3 .381 .333 .700 2.3 0.1 .1 .4 3.0 70 11 25.6 .516 .000 .739 5.6 2.0 1.0 .7 13.5 63 13 19.3 .405 .341 .765 3.5 1.3 .9 .2 7.2 81 81 30.1 .536† .000 .702 7.6 1.3 1.2 1.7 15.1 33 0 4.9 .609† .500^ .647 0.8 0.4 .3 .0 2.8 76 9 21.9 .459 .415^ .860 2.1 3.4 .8 .1 9.1 80 64 29.5 .479 .321 .689 5.1 2.1 1.2 1.1 14.2 * 29 3 17.0 .438 .449^ .667 1.7 0.8 .3 .2 6.2 * 13 0 3.5 .370 .313 .333 0.4 0.2 .3 .0 2.0 71 30 18.8 .470 . .699 4.4 0.7 .5 .8 3.6

* – Stats with the Suns. † – Minimum 300 field goals made. ^ – Minimum 55 three-pointers made.

Playoffs PlayerGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG 1 0 1.0 . . . 0.0 0.0 .0 .0 0.0 4 1 23.3 .500 . .500 5.8 0.3 1.0 .5 10.0 2 2 29.0 .261 .000 .857^ 0.0 2.0 1.0 .0 9.0 4 1 30.5 .548† .250 .667 2.3 4.8 .5 .2 13.8 4 4 42.8 .379 .000 .813^ 5.8 7.8 4.0 .5 14.3 4 3 31.5 .512 .571 .750 4.8 2.0 .2 .2 14.3 4 4 36.8 .477 . .643 13.3 1.0 .5 1.5 17.8 2 0 2.0 .667† . . 0.5 0.0 .5 .0 2.0 4 1 12.8 .444 .200 .625 2.5 1.8 .5 .0 5.5 4 4 23.0 .273 .000 .778 3.0 0.8 .7 .5 6.3 4 0 15.5 .412 .375 . 2.0 0.3 .2 .0 4.3 3 0 11.0 .286 . .667 1.3 0.3 .0 .7 2.0

† – Minimum 20 field goals made. ^ – Minimum 10 free throws made.

Player statistics citation:

Transactions

Trades October 1, 1997 To Denver Nuggets 1998 first-round draft pick ( Tyronn Lue) 1999 first-round draft pick ( James Posey) 2000 second-round draft pick ( Dan McClintock) 2001 first-round draft pick ( Joseph Forte) 2002 second-round draft pick ( Rod Grizzard) To Phoenix Suns Antonio McDyess

1997–98 Phoenix Suns season

Bron en licentie