What we remember about the Suns’ 1993 Finals trip and the long road back

Twenty-eight long years.

Maybe it’d have been less painful had the Phoenix Suns not been oh-so-close to reaching the NBA Finals multiple times since 1993, when Charles Barkley led them to the last playoff series of the season, where they couldn’t overcome Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls.

The Suns had All-Star after All-Star try and fail to get beyond the Western Conference Finals from the 1990s, through the 2000s when the team reshaped how basketball was played behind a two-time MVP in Steve Nash.

Maybe that’s why it was so shocking to watch this team, not far removed from bottom-dwelling incompetence, do so much beyond ending an 11-year playoff drought.

So we asked those of us at Arizona Sports what the long wait between Phoenix’s NBA Finals appearances means to them.

What do you remember about the last time the Suns went to the NBA Finals in the 1993, and what does it mean for this team to finally make it back?

Dave Burns, co-host of Burns & Gamob: I remember … well shoot … I remember everything. I remember Paul Westphal’s famous guarantee that the Suns would win the opening 1993 series despite being down 2-0 in a best-of-five to the Lakers. Charles Barkley hit the shot over David Robinson to beat the Spurs the night before I graduated from NAU. Watched it from the bar of the Woodlands Hotel in Flagstaff. I remember showing up at the original Majerle’s in downtown Phoenix five hours before tipoff of Game 3 versus the Sonics just to hold a table for me and my then-girlfriend (now wife).

I remember watching every game of the Finals from a dorm room on the campus of NYU. I was in New York City for an internship with CBS Sports. The day after the Paxson shot, the guy I was working for, the VP of program planning for CBS Sports, walked by my temporary cubicle and said, “Boy, that sucked for you,” and walked away.

I remember it all. And I remember thinking, “We’ll be back. Of course we’ll be back.” And the Suns are. A 26-year marriage, a 23-year-old son, a 20-year-old daughter and a 26-year career on the air in this market later, they are.

As for what it means? It means the Suns have a chance to ending a hex that is the NBA’s version of the Red Sox or the Cubs. It’s a chance to close out all the “what-if” open tabs this team has racked up over the decades. No offense to the Diamondbacks, Cardinals or Coyotes, but a Suns title was always going to carry more weight than anyone else in this city. Deeper roots. A history that almost no other team in the NBA can rival. Four more.

Vince Marotta, co-host of Bickley & Marotta: I remember so much of that run to the Finals in ’93. First, just how hard it was for the Suns to get there. After a season-long wave of momentum, the Valley was completely flattened by the Suns losing the first two games of their first-round series against the Lakers, who came into the series with a 39-43 record.

Then came Paul Westphal’s famous “we’re going to win the series” speech. Even then, it wasn’t easy, as the Lakers took the Suns to OT at America West Arena in the deciding Game 5. Barkley’s shot to bury San Antonio in the Western semis. The Seattle series was a battle, too, and the Suns needed every bit of Charles Barkley’s Herculean effort in Game 7 to get to the Finals.

There are so many similarities between that team and this one. In 1992, the Suns opened a new arena, welcomed a future Hall of Famer to town and rolled out new uniforms. Sound familiar?

The city was absolutely in love with that team, and I didn’t think I’d ever see anything quite like that again in Phoenix. I’m very happy to say that I was wrong, because the Valley is absolutely riveted right now, and it should be.

And this year’s team won’t be facing Michael Jordan in the Finals, so the outcome could very well be much different.

Kevin Zimmerman, ArizonaSports.com editor and co-host of the Empire of the Suns podcast: I was a 4-year-old when Charles Barkley and the gang went to the Finals, so I don’t have memories of the series, but I do know this: One of my earliest childhood memories is learning how to dribble a basketball after watching that era of the Suns. The Stephon Marbury years began my obsession (What do you expect when you see lots of SLAM covers at the grocery store?), and I watched all the oh-so-close failures in the Seven Seconds or Less era.

I was lucky enough to start covering the Suns out of college in 2011 as soon as Alvin Gentry got fired and the team went on the decade-plus run of very poor management and basketball playing. So yeah, I may be a jaded observer now, but from a purely objective perspective, it’s been a ride to watch this suddenly beautiful basketball over the past year.

For this very fine city and the people in it, you can tell how much it means when the visiting media rave about the Phoenix Suns Arena shaking with volume over the past few weeks. It’s doing that for a reason. People care a lot here, and they’ve waited so long.

Kellan Olson, ArizonaSports.com editor and co-host of the Empire of the Suns podcast: I was 3 years old, so I don’t remember anything. What I will be remembering for the rest of my life was being in the room when Monty Williams and his players spoke after Wednesday’s win. I was cognizant of this being just another step toward a championship, but plenty of players and coaches don’t even get to the NBA Finals. The significance of that really came through seeing them having that moment, knowing they have more work to do but also knowing that it’s an opportunity few get. As a fan of Chris Paul since I was a teenager, I’m happy he got it and happy Devin Booker did too after everything the two of them have been through.

Tyler Drake, ArizonaSports.com editor: I am clearly the youngster in this group, having been a year old during the Suns’ 1993 playoff run. I can tell you right now, I do not remember a thing about 1993, but what I do know is how much that squad meant to the Valley. I grew up in Northern California, but spent every holiday, summer and any other breaks there were in a school year to be closer to my family in Globe and the East Valley. You better believe I got an indoctrination of all things Suns, especially during the Seven Seconds or Less era. At one point, I owned just about every Steve Nash jersey you could own. I even traded a Ray Allen Super Sonics jersey for a No. 32 Amar’e Stoudemire jersey at school one day to the chagrin of many. I wasn’t even an official part of the community yet. That speaks volumes to what this team means to the state.

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