Suns’ practice facility on pace to be ‘up and running’ by early September
Jun 12, 2020, 2:58 PM
When the Phoenix Suns broke ground on their new practice facility in mid-November, the targeted date of completion was August.
Lots can go wrong over those nine months, especially in the middle of a pandemic.
Fortunately, like the arena renovations at Talking Stick Resort Arena, the Suns haven’t hit any major snags in that target date.
On The Outlet with the Suns’ Lindsey Smith, owner Robert Sarver said they are on pace to have the facility “up and running” by Labor Day (Sept. 7).
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“Pretty close to schedule,” Sarver said.
As far as any setbacks to have the timeline pushed back a month, it’s what you could expect.
“A few procurement issues with stuff that’s been made overseas that we had to re-select some things and made a few changes here and there,” he said.
Now, the timing of being open in September is a lot more significant than it was a few months ago.
With the NBA’s season being pushed back, the 2020 NBA Draft and free agency are currently scheduled to take place in mid-October.
So, instead of general manager James Jones taking players on a tour of a partially finished building, they get to see the full product.
Head coach Monty Williams spoke on the enormity of the Suns now having a facility as opposed to the practice court they previously used in the arena.
“Free agents look at it. It’s a bit of a lighthouse for your organization,” Williams said in November. “Guys wanna know, ‘What kind of practice site do you guys have? What does it have in it? Are the shower heads higher than eight feet?’ Stuff like that. All that stuff is important. You don’t think it is, but it’s important.”
The facility, located just north of Camelback Road on 44th Street, is unique for the Suns because Williams said no other team in the league has a facility that is right by where all the players live.
Sarver said he has been at the site of the practice facility every day as they get closer to completion.
“The roof is getting finished. You can drive by it, you can see the exterior, the metal skin all around, most of the windows are put in. It’s coming along pretty good,” Sarver said.
You can see a digital version of the practice facility below.
