Dan Majerle is still a Valley favorite
Mar 29, 2011, 12:40 AM | Updated: 4:18 pm
Imagine that you were hired for a new job right out of college and when
they introduced you to the staff and the company’s customers you were
received with a loud, intimidating and large amount of boos.
Would you
take it in stride and prove them all wrong or let it effect your performance
to the point where you proved them right?
That was the situation that faced former Phoenix Suns guard and current
assistant coach Dan Majerle. Before he even stepped foot in the state of
Arizona, the odds and the fans were against him.
It’s rare that someone in that situation would ever become legendary
among the fans of said towns, but that’s just what Majerle did.
His journey into the hearts of the Suns faithful began on a hot, late June
evening almost 23 years ago. That was the night Cotton Fitzsimmons
announced to a group of dedicated fanatics that with the 14th pick in the
1988 NBA Draft they had selected a 6-foot-6 guard from a university that
could only be considered the third best basketball school in Michigan
(although Majerle would probably disagree with that claim). The fans booed
and, in response, Fitzsimmons provided us with one of the most famous
Arizona sports quotes of all time.
