Mike D'Antoni

Jared Dudley and the Phoenix Suns Stay Tough, But Can't Topple the Los Angeles Lakers

nba.com/sunsJared Dudley led the Phoenix Suns with 21 points during last night's defeat by the Los Angeles Lakers.​The final minutes of last night's game pitting the Phoenix Suns against the Los Angeles Lakers at US Airways Center were pulse-pounding and exciting, but Planet Orange ultimately lost ... More >>

Phoenix Suns Center Robin Lopez Invited to Team USA Basketball Camp

nba.com Robin Lopez​Phoenix Suns center Robin Lopez is getting an opportunity to shine. Lopez, who will be entering his third year in the league this fall, has been invited to Team USA's training camp next week in Las Vegas. Team USA will play in the world championships in Turkey from Augu ... More >>

A Sun No More: Amar'e Stoudemire Signs With New York Knicks

chi-ball.comAmar'e Stoudemire​ Amar'e Stoudemire is no longer a Phoenix Sun. After weeks of playing the waiting game (while already knowing the answer), Suns fans finally got the official news Monday afternoon. Stoudemire is headed for the Big Apple and the New York Knicks, signing a five-year ... More >>

Phoenix Suns Beat Two Terrible Teams Over Weekend; Center Robin Lopez Out for at Least Four More Games

suns.com The Suns were without Robin Lopez's might in the middle in last night's narrow win over the Timberwolves.​Friday's home game against Coach Mike D'Antoni's New York Knicks and yesterday's road contest against Coach Kurt Rambis' Minnesota Timberwolves both looked lik ... More >>

Suns Get Blown Out for Second Night in Row, This Time by LeBron James and Cavs. Next UP: Sacramento on Saturday

nba.com LeBron and Shaq dominate Suns.​Are the Suns who we thought they were before the season got going? Certainly hope not, but after two blowout losses in as many nights, we're beginning to wonder. Sure, the 107-90 road loss last night to one of the top teams in the NBA, the C ... More >>

Suns Walloped by Lowly New York Knicks. Up Next: Cleveland Cavaliers

www.nba.com/sunsAlando Tucker notches 14 points upon being reactivated.​Well, this wasn't totally unexpected: a red-hot Suns team rolling over most every team in its path, playing one of the NBA's biggest go-nowhere teams . . . and losing. At 14-3 heading into Tuesday night's game against the New ... More >>

Suns Trounce Minnesota Timberwolves, Toronto Raptors Over the Weekend. Up Next: The Ailing New York Knicks on Tuesday

Jason Richardson posted back-to-back 22 point performances this weekend against the Timberwolves and Raptors.​Steve Nash left a rather interesting tweet on his Twitter account over the weekend, and it was directed towards pal and Toronto Raptors star Chris Bosh.It simply stated, "see u above the r ... More >>

Don't Drink the Orange Kool-Aid Yet. Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant Are Coming Right Up.

Steve Nash and the Suns have found success in scrappiness.​Just two weeks ago, in our secret heart of hearts, we were ready to consign 35-year-old Steve Nash to the dustbin of history. Unless you're Steve Nash's mom, you were, too. Be honest. Then came that last-minute beauty shot in the regular ... More >>

Foul Play: Remembering Horry/Nash as Fun 'n' Gun Phoenix Suns Open New Season in L.A.

Robert Horry and Steve Nash scuffle after Horry's infamous decking of Nash on May 14, 2007. The play sent the Suns into a tailspin they're still trying to recover from.​ Suppose for a sec that Robert Horry, on the morning of May 14, 2007, had looked in the mirror and said, "Today, I'm not go ... More >>

Phoenix Mercury Defeat Indiana Fever 90-77 to Bring WNBA Championship Game to Phoenix on Friday

Courtesy of the WNBAMercury guard Cappie Pondexter scored 22 points in game four.​The Phoenix Mercury play their best when their backs are against the wall. Such was the case with game four of the WNBA finals -- the Mercury entered the game down 2-1 to the Indiana Fever in the best-of-five series. ... More >>

Steve Nash Agrees to Rich Contract Extension, but Why Do the Phoenix Suns Want to Keep the Aging Superstar at All Costs?

Beats us why Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver would bend over frontwards to keep a point guard who's too old and slow to keep up defensively with practically any other starter at his position in the nba.com No way the two-time league MVP should be the Suns' top priority. National Baske ... More >>

The Big Cactus Becomes the Big Abandoned Steel Mill. Good for Cleveland, but It Leaves Us with Zilch

www.nba.com O'Neal and King James reunited on the same team, this time for what the Cavs hope is a championship season.So what's Shaq gonna be called now that he's no longer the Big Cactus? Maybe the Big Abandoned Steel Mill or the Big Mistake By the Lake. Actually, O'Neal's trade loo ... More >>

Unwigged and Unloved: Spinal Tappers Play for Small but Appreciative Crowd

Luke Holwerda"Spinal Tap" metal and "A Mighty Wind" folk each got their due Monday night.Before the Unwigged & Unplugged show even started last night, the official Spinal Tap moment had already happened. When the announcer came onstage at Dodge Theatre to do the customary plugging of upcoming sh ... More >>

Phoenix Suns Win Impressively Over New Orleans, but Get Knocked Out of the Playoffs

The Phoenix Suns were impressive against a good team Wednesday night, beating the New Orleans Hornets 105-100 on sterling play by their team leaders. www.nba.com Why's GM Steve Kerr smiling? The Suns didn't make the playoffs for the first time in the Nash era.But it doesn't matter. The ... More >>

Blame D'Antoni: Sinking Phoenix Suns Take on New Orleans Hornets Tonight

www.nba.com Shaquille O'Neal has five games left as a Sun. Bank on it. The New York Knicks were eliminated from the playoffs last Saturday, less than 24 hours before the Phoenix Suns were in every way but mathematically terminated by the Dallas Mavericks. Anyone but a Mike D'Antoni/Plan ... More >>

Phoenix Suns Gut Out Another Big Win Against a Good Team Wednesday Night to Go 6 in a Row. Next Up: the Trail Blazers Tonight

www.suns.com "Lightening" Lou Amundson gives Phoenix the edge.Deeee-Fence! We never thought we'd be saying this, but the Phoenix Suns won the last two games against tough Western Conference foes with solid D, and now find themselves on a 6-game winning streak. Of course, this ... More >>

Leandro Barbosa Injured in Phoenix Suns' Impressive Win Over Philadelphia 76ers

www.nba.comLeandro Barbosa takes a sickening spill. Just when you thought the Phoenix Suns' luck was improving, another player gets injured. This time it happened at the end of the first quarter of the Suns' game against the Philadelphia 76ers when Leandro Barbosa went down with a hyper-extended lef ... More >>

Phoenix Suns Break Six-Game Losing Streak, With (You Guessed it) Wins Over Two Teams With Losing Records

www.daylife.com Ex-Warriors Jason Richardson and Matt Barnes light up their old coach.Over the weekend, the Phoenix Suns did what they do best -- beat bad teams. The score was 106-95 against the 18-48 Oklahoma City Thunder at US Airways Center on Saturday night and a runn ... More >>

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: The Suns Blow Out the Thunder and Get Dominated by the Celtics Over the Weekend

The good, of course, were Rajon Rondo (pictured) and the mighty Boston Celtics, who came into US Airways Center Sunday Afternoon and took care of business, 128-108, against the Phoenix Suns. The bad were the Oklahoma City Thunder, who got dominated by the Suns here Friday night, ... More >>

Okay, Stoudemire's Staying With the Phoenix Suns, and so's Shaq -- at Least for the Remainder of the Season

The NBA trade deadline passed at 1 p.m. today with no Phoenix Suns players moved -- not even Amar'e Stoudemire (whose departure seemed all but a done deal last week). Suns brass had been admitting for a month that they were entertaining trade offers for every member of the team e ... More >>

Looking Like the Suns of Old After the Coaching Change, Phoenix Blows Out the Hapless L.A. Clippers

It was a game in which Goran Dragic slam-dunked. Goran who? You know, the highly touted backup point guard whom fired Suns Coach Terry Porter used to ream a new one from the sidelines everytime he made a blunder. The Slovenian rookie (pictured) played with reckless ab ... More >>

Breakneck Mountain: Phoenix Suns to Revive the Seven-and-Shoot Tonight Against Clippers Tuesday and Wednesday

This just in from Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver and general manager Steve Kerr: Oops. Our bad. Terry Porter, we hardly knew ye. Here's a sack full of cash to salve your wounds. Amar'e -- ha ha. Those trade rumors? We were just kidding. Ya know we love ya, ya big lug. The rest of you guys, run li ... More >>

Good Riddance: Terry Porter's Officially Fired, but Could it be Shaq Who Now Goes Instead of Amar'e?

Well, it's official. Phoenix Suns head coach Terry Porter was fired today and replaced (on an interim basis) with long-time Phoenix assistant and former Los Angeles Clippers head coach Alvin Gentry (pictured). "I hired Terry because I believed he would be able to provide the balance o ... More >>

How Much Garbage Time Can We Stand? Phoenix Suns Get Blown Out by Philly

We knew to expect the worst when Suns broadcasters harped from the beginning of the game that the team got into Philadelphia at past 2 a.m. Monday after their victory over the  Pistons in Detroit Sunday night You know, the old back-to-back road games bugaboo. ... More >>

As an Amar'e Stoudemire Trade Seems Imminent, the Phoenix Suns Mount Two Impressive Weekend Wins

Amar'e Stoudemire's practically got his bags packed. And the rest of the Phoenix Suns -- save for  vererans Shaquille O'Neal, Steve Nash, and Grant Hill -- had seemingly put up the white flag. Then... The Suns started looking like a playoff team again in the past two games against the ... More >>

Patsy Test: Can Phoenix Suns Manage to Beat Golden State Tonight and Friday?

NBA bad boy Stephen Jackson has found a home in Golden State. We're not big Mike D'Antoni fans. As electric as his six-and-shoot system was during the Phoenix days, it was a paper tiger that bared its cardboard fangs come playoff time. Plus, the dude began to buy into his own myth toward the ... More >>

What Does it Mean? Phoenix Suns Lose and Win Against Terrible Teams

You know what it means that the Suns blew out the Sacramento Kings 129-81 at US Airways Center Monday night? Nothing. The Kings are 11-39, officially the third-worst team in the NBA at 11-39 (the L.A. Clippers and the Washington Wizards are tied for worst at 10-38). Running them out of the gym ... More >>

Stoudemire Snags Just 4 Rebounds as Unraveling Suns Lose to Mediocre New York Knicks, 114-109

Mike D'Antoni had the last laugh. His work-in-progress New York Knicks held on and beat the Phoenix Suns at Madison Square Garden by five points. Mighty mite Nate Robinsion, in 25 minutes off the bench, demolished the Suns on Wednesday night. Seemed everything the 5-9 one-time NBA sl ... More >>

Following the Boston Blitzkrieg, Suns Look to Pick Up the Pieces Tonight in NYC

Ex-Sun and current Knick Quentin Richardson squaring up from three-point land. When the New York Knicks took on the Phoenix Suns on December 15, the storyline was the return of former Suns'/current Knicks' head coach Mike D'Antoni. The evening was complete with man hugs between the ex-leader and th ... More >>

Best Team Ever? Naw, but a Damn Awesome One -- the Suns Visit the Boston Celtics Tonight

Boston's Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen From the middle of November through the end of December, 38 days to be exact, the Boston Celtics didn't lose a game, sweeping their way to 19 consecutive victories. The team's record on December 23 was 27-2. "Best team ever" pursed the lips of s ... More >>

Total Eclipse of the Suns: Nash & Co. Play Second Fiddle to Cardinals for a Change

Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh At 1 Sunday afternoon in Glendale, the Arizona Cardinals play the biggest game in franchise history. At 10:30 that morning in chilly Canada, the Phoenix Suns, uh, don't. The Suns' opponent is the Toronto Raptors, who're battling Mike D'Antoni's Knicks for the ba ... More >>

Shaq Leads the Way in Suns Victory Over Worst Team in NBA

  The Phoenix Suns played all but nine minutes of Monday night's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder without Steve Nash, and the team seemed to pick up steam after its floor leader went to the locker room with back spasms. Even if it was against the team with the worst record in the NBA, th ... More >>

Merry Effen Xmas, Phoenix: San Antonio Edges the Suns With a Buzzer-Beater

This year's Phoenix Suns are playing better than ever. They've looked good in the last six games. Unfortunately, they're 3-3 in those contests against (save for the New York Knicks) good teams. Turnovers have killed the Suns all season, and while they've gotten better at protecting the basketb ... More >>

The Good News: The Suns Gelled Against Portland. The Bad News: They Ran into a Cyclone

 The Suns played well in Portland. They actually demonstrated some cohesion. It looked for this game like the running Suns, returned suddenly from the old Mike D'Antoni days, could actually work Shaq into the offense. It wasn't his best night; the big man had 19 points and six reboun ... More >>

After Two Games Out of the Lineup, Shaq Comes Back With a Vengeance in Suns Win Over D'Antoni's Knicks

Here's an idea: play Shaquille O'Neal every third game. The other idea would be to play him only against Milwaukee (he scored 27 and 35 points in two games against the Bucks this season), but that wouldn't be cost-effective for a guy making $20 million a year. After missing two games because of a f ... More >>

Prodigal Sun: Mike D'Antoni Returns Tonight When His Knicks Take on Richardson-Revitalized Phoenix

  So, when Mike D'Antoni leads his New York Knicks out of the tunnel and onto the hardwood at the Purple Palace, will you boo him or will you cheer him? What's the etiquette for a man who abandoned a listing ship? Sure, following the Suns' first-round playoff ouster by the San Antonio Spurs ... More >>

Return of the Joker: Shaq-Less Suns at L.A. Lakers Tonight

98-119. 115-122. 106-98. 124-130. 92-105. Alas, these are not Steve Kerr's winning lottery numbers. They're actually grim statistics reflecting an alarming trend: the full-on revival of the Los Angeles Lakers as a major pain in the Phoenix Suns' butt. And they may be an even bigger pain in th ... More >>

Glad You're Sitting Down: Shaq Almost Scores His Age, Proving He Can Still Do It -- Against Milwaukee

It was his first 30-point game since March 9, 2007 when he was with the Miami Heat. In fact, 36-year-old Shaquille O'Neal scored 35 points against the Milwaukee Bucks Tuesday night to lead the Suns to a 125-110 victory, the team's largest point total of the year. We'd say t ... More >>

Suns Trade Raja Bell and Boris Diaw to Charlotte for Slam-Dunk Champ Jason Richardson, Et Al

Finally, the Suns got rid of tentative Boris Diaw -- then they threw in defensive-minded Raja Bell for good mearure. At least, these were the name players the team jettisoned to acquire talented two-guard Jason Richardson (pictured after a dunk) from the Charlotte Bobcats. The 6 ... More >>

Shaq Scores Four Points as Beaten-Down Suns get Beaten Up by Dallas

Diesel, where the hell were you? Where's that team you bragged you'd hoist to an NBA  championship in Phoenix? Nowhere to be found in the Suns 112-97 road loss to mighty Dirk Nowitzki (pictured) and his Dallas Mavericks, that's where. Ain't gonna happen with ... More >>

Wolf Den: Phoenix Suns at Minnesota Tonight

  Al Jefferson (above dunking) is most decidedly better than nothing. A linchpin of the Minnesota Timberwolves' move-him-or-lose-him trade of All-World Kevin Garnett to the Boston Celtics in the summer of '07, Jefferson came into his own last season, his first as a T-Wolf.  The 6-10 center/forwar ... More >>

Suns Overpowered by Worst Team in Basketball, but Steve Nash Wills Them to One-Point Victory

  Never underestimate the heart of a champion. We forget who said that, but it was Steve Nash who willed an overpowered Phoenix Suns team to a 99-98 victory Tuesday night over the Thunder in Oklahoma City. Yeah, you heard that right, the now 1-14 Okie Thunder bitch-slapped ... More >>

Last Night's Phoenix Suns Game Almost Made Us Miss Mike D'Antoni

Earth to Suns Coach Terry Porter: Shaq's an old man. You can't play down to his level. After last night's drubbing by the Los Angeles Lakers, we almost missed departed (for the New York Knicks) Coach Mike D'Antoni. Hey, we said almost. The jury's still out on whether Porter's a legitimate NBA ... More >>

ASU pitcher beats New Times jinx, wins title

Letters from the issue of Thursday, May 8, 2008

Don't let the Suns catch you crying

Steve Kerr's been beating the odds his whole life

There's Something About Larry

Can Suns bring home the hardware? Yes. Here's how.

Amaré's Burden

The Phoenix Suns superstar has more to worry about than his ailing knees

Elephant Slayer

Napolitano deftly played politics this legislative session to fend off all GOP foes