Phoenix Suns legend Paul Westphal diagnosed with brain cancer
Aug 9, 2020, 12:17 PM | Updated: 12:30 pm
Enshrinee Paul Westphal gives his speech during the 2019 Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony at Symphony Hall on September 06, 2019 in Springfield, Massachusetts. (Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images)
(Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images)
Phoenix Suns legend Paul Westphal has been diagnosed with brain cancer.
ESPN Insider Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted Westphal’s longtime friend Mike Lupica revealed the news.
“With his permission, I am letting the basketball world know he has just been diagnosed with brain cancer,” Lupica said in a tweet. “Specifically, glioblastoma. Please pray for my friend, No. 44.”
— Mike Lupica (@MikeLupica) August 9, 2020
Westphal was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame last year.
Westphal is a five-time NBA All-Star and played the best basketball of his career in Phoenix.
He came to the Valley in 1975 in a trade with the Boston Celtics for Charlie Scott.
Westphal went on to average 20 points per game in all five of his seasons with the Suns from 1976-80.
In three of his five seasons in the Valley, Westphal made First Team All-NBA and was also Second Team All-NBA for the 1977-78 season.
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Following his career as a player, Westphal went on to be an assistant coach and later the head coach for the Suns. In four seasons as the team’s head coach, he tallied a 191-88 record.
He also coached for the Seattle Supersonics and Sacramento Kings.
Westphal was inducted into the Suns’ Ring of Honor in 1998 and is also a member of the USC Hall of Fame and Pac-12 Hall of Honor.
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