A look back in time to when the Suns last played in the NBA Finals

It’s been almost three decades since the Phoenix Suns played in the NBA Finals.

The last time was in June 1993 when league MVP Charles Barkley and the Suns lost to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls 4-2.

But times in Arizona were a little different back then.

Arizona sports teams

The Arizona Diamondbacks did not yet exist. They became a franchise five years later in 1998.

The Arizona Coyotes were also not in the Valley. They played in Canada as the Winnipeg Jets. The franchise did not move to Arizona until 1996.

And the Arizona Cardinals didn’t play in Glendale at the time. They played their home games at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe as the Phoenix Cardinals. Thirteen years later, the Cardinals played their first season at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale.

Movies

The top grossing movie in 1993 was Universal Pictures’ “Jurassic Park.” Directed by Steven Spielberg, the science fiction action film first hit theatres during the NBA Finals on June 11.

Other top movies that year were 20th Century Studios’ “Mrs. Doubtfire,” Warner Brothers’ “The Fugitive” and Universal Studios’ “Schindler’s List.”

TV Shows

The top television programs that year were CBS’ “60 Minutes,” ABC’s “Home Improvement” and NBC’s “Seinfeld.”

Songs

The most popular song in June 1993 was Janet Jackson’s “That’s the Way Love Goes.” It became the fourth most listened track of the year.

Fun Facts

In 1993, 2,263,000 Arizonans lived in the Phoenix metropolitan area, which is almost half of the metropolitan area’s population in 2021 (4,584,000).

Gasoline costed about $1.11 a gallon, compared to $2.24 a gallon in 2021.

And the federal minimum wage was $4.25 an hour, which is three dollars less than the federal minimum wage in 2021 ($7.25 an hour).