From the Archives: Three Finals, No Ring, and a Camp Still…

By the Suns Nightly Desk · Monday, September 28

Phoenix has reached three NBA Finals and lost each one, and every run shared the same shape: one star carrying a cast built around him. That pattern is back with Devin Booker at the center and Suns camp still sorting out who fills in the rest before the October 21 opener.

Suns Nightly artwork — Illustration by Hoops Nightly.

Three Finals, no ring. Phoenix has reached the NBA Finals three times — 1976, 1993 and 2021 — and lost every one. Along the way, Dallas eliminated the Suns in seven games in 2022 despite Phoenix leading that series 2-0, and Denver did it in six in 2023 after Phoenix rallied back from down 0-2.

One star, every era. Charles Barkley arrived from Philadelphia in 1992 and won MVP the next season as Phoenix set a franchise record with 62 wins. Steve Nash returned in 2004 and tied that win record in 2004-05. Devin Booker, 29 and entering his 11th season, is the latest version of that formula, now on a two-year, $145 million max extension.

Pace never left. Mike D'Antoni's Nash-era teams built Phoenix's reputation on tempo, and the habit survived every roster turnover since. Last season's Suns played at 98.1 possessions a game. Whether that pace fits a roster reshaped by the Durant trade, with Bridges, Brooks and Green now filling in around Booker, is one of camp's open questions.

Houston holds the pick. The rivalry with the sharpest present edge is Houston, which owns Phoenix's 2027 first-round pick from the Durant trade. Jalen Green, the guard Houston sent back in that same deal along with Brooks and the draft rights to Khaman Maluach, is now trying to prove himself in a Suns uniform instead of a Rockets one.

Centers keep changing. Phoenix traded Vasa Micic, Liam McNeeley's draft rights and a 2029 first-round pick to Charlotte for Mark Williams, out since September 11 with a left shoulder and arm issue and reported surgery, no return date given. Duop Reath joined September 25 and was flagged that day with a leg and foot issue on the right side.

Continuity, one voice. Thirteen Hall of Famers have worn a Suns uniform, and two, Barkley and Nash, won MVP while wearing it. Broadcaster Al McCoy, hired in 1972, called all three Finals runs and remains the longest-tenured announcer in NBA history — a thread of continuity this month's roster, with new names like Duop Reath and Kennedy Chandler, doesn't have.

On deck Phoenix opens preseason October 5 at Detroit, then plays three more exhibition games before the regular-season opener October 21 at Portland.

Have the Suns ever won an NBA championship?

No. Phoenix has reached three NBA Finals — 1976, 1993 and 2021 — and lost each one, holding the highest winning percentage among NBA teams without a title.

When do the Suns play their first game of the 2026-27 season?

Phoenix opens preseason October 5 at Detroit and begins the regular season October 21 at Portland.