1983–84 Phoenix Suns season

1983–84 Phoenix Suns season
Head coach	John MacLeod
General manager	Jerry Colangelo
Owner(s)	Richard Bloch
Arena	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record	41–41 (.500)
Place	Division: 4th (Pacific) Conference: 6th (Western)
Playoff finish	Lost in Conference Finals to Los Angeles (2–4)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Radio	KTAR

The 1983–84 Phoenix Suns season was the 16th season for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. The Suns were in the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season, extending a then-franchise record. The Suns eliminated their first round opponent, Portland, three games to two before defeating the Utah Jazz and NBA leading scorer, Adrian Dantley, four games to two. In the Western Conference Finals, the Suns would lose to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games. The team was led by head coach John MacLeod, in his 11th year with the Suns, and played all home games in Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Walter Davis led the Suns in scoring with 20 points per game. Larry Nance, who finished the season fourth in the NBA in blocks per game for the second straight year, was second in team scoring at 17.7. Davis returned to the All-Star Game, the only Sun from the season to be selected to do so. Maurice Lucas again averaged a double-double again for the Suns with 16 points and 10 rebounds per game.

Although Nance would not earn his first All-Star selection until the next season, he did participate in the NBA's first Slam Dunk Contest on All-Star Weekend. While Julius Erving ("Dr. J") provided a memorable dunk from the foul line, it was Nance who was crowned the league's first Slam Dunk champion.^[1]

Draft picks

Main article: 1983 NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
2	28	Rod Foster	Guard	United States	UCLA
2	45	Paul Williams	Guard	United States	Arizona State
3	51	Dereck Whittenburg	Guard	United States	North Carolina State
4	89	Sam Mosley	Forward	United States	Nevada
5	113	Rick Lamb	Forward	United States	Illinois State
6	135	Edward Bona	Forward	United States	Fordham
7	159	Fred Brown	Guard	United States	Virginia Commonwealth
8	181	Mike Mulquin	Forward	United States	Villanova
9	204	Joe Dykstra	Guard	United States	Western Illinois
10	224	Bo Overton	Guard	United States	Oklahoma

Roster

Phoenix Suns roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Nat.	Name	Height	Weight	DOB (Y-M-D)	From
6.0 !C	33	USA !	Adams, Alvan	7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1954-07-19	Oklahoma
1.5 !G	6	USA !	Davis, Walter	7000198120000000000♠6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	193 lb (88 kg)	1954-09-09	North Carolina
6.0 !C	53	USA !	Edwards, James	7000213360000000000♠7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	1955-11-22	Washington
1.5 !G	10	USA !	Foster, Rod	7000185420000000000♠6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	1960-10-10	UCLA
4.0 !F	20	USA !	Lucas, Maurice	7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	1952-02-18	Marquette
1.5 !G	4	USA !	Macy, Kyle	7000190500000000000♠6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1957-04-09	Kentucky
4.0 !F	22	USA !	Nance, Larry	7000208279999999999♠6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1959-02-12	Clemson
4.0 !F	32	USA !	Pittman, Charles	7000203200000000000♠6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	1958-03-23	Maryland
6.0 !C	8	USA !	Robey, Rick	7000210820000000000♠6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	1956-01-30	Kentucky
4.0 !F	7	USA !	Sanders, Mike	7000198120000000000♠6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1960-05-07	UCLA
4.0 !F	14	USA !	Scott, Alvin	7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1955-09-14	Oral Roberts
1.5 !G	44	USA !	Westphal, Paul	7000193040000000000♠6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1950-11-30	Southern California

Head coach

John MacLeod (Bellarmine)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended
Injured

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve
C	James Edwards	Alvan Adams	Rick Robey
PF	Maurice Lucas	Charles Pittman
SF	Larry Nance	Mike Sanders	Alvin Scott
SG	Walter Davis	Paul Westphal
PG	Kyle Macy	Rod Foster

Regular season

Standings

Pacific Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers	54	28	.659	–	28–13	26–15	18–12
x-Portland Trail Blazers	48	34	.585	6	33–8	15–26	17–13
x-Seattle SuperSonics	42	40	.512	12	32–9	10–31	14–16
x-Phoenix Suns	41	41	.500	13	31–10	10–31	16–14
Golden State Warriors	37	45	.451	17	27–14	10–31	13–17
San Diego Clippers	30	52	.366	24	25–16	5–36	12–18

#	Western Conference
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Los Angeles Lakers	54	28	.659	–
2	y-Utah Jazz	45	37	.549	9
3	x-Portland Trail Blazers	48	34	.585	6
4	x-Dallas Mavericks	43	39	.524	11
5	x-Seattle SuperSonics	42	40	.512	12
6	x-Phoenix Suns	41	41	.500	13
7	x-Denver Nuggets	38	44	.463	16
8	x-Kansas City Kings	38	44	.463	16

9	San Antonio Spurs	37	45	.451	17
9	Golden State Warriors	37	45	.451	17
11	San Diego Clippers	30	52	.366	24
12	Houston Rockets	29	53	.354	25

Playoffs

Game log

1984 playoff game log

First Round: 3–2 (Home: 1–1; Road: 2–1)

Game	Date Time	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	April 18	@ Portland	W 113–106	James Edwards (23)	Larry Nance (9)	Walter Davis (13)	Memorial Coliseum 12,666	1–0
2	April 20	@ Portland	L 116–122	Walter Davis (25)	Walter Davis, Maurice Lucas (5)	Alvan Adams (5)	Memorial Coliseum 12,666	1–1
3	April 22	Portland	W 106–103	Walter Davis (27)	Maurice Lucas, Larry Nance (10)	Walter Davis (10)	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 11,531	2–1
4	April 24	Portland	L 110–113	Walter Davis (29)	Maurice Lucas (10)	Walter Davis, Kyle Macy (7)	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 14,660	2–2
5	April 26	@ Portland	W 117–105	Walter Davis (29)	Maurice Lucas (12)	Walter Davis (10)	Memorial Coliseum 12,666	3–2

Conference Semifinals: 4–2 (Home: 1–2; Road: 3–0)

Game	Date Time	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	April 29	@ Utah	L 95–105	Walter Davis (21)	James Edwards (8)	Walter Davis (7)	Salt Palace 12,403	0–1
2	May 2	@ Utah	W 102–97	Walter Davis (28)	Maurice Lucas (15)	Kyle Macy (7)	Salt Palace 12,689	1–1
3	May 4	Utah	W 106–94	Walter Davis (30)	Maurice Lucas (14)	Kyle Macy (7)	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 14,660	2–1
4	May 6	Utah	W 111–110 (OT)	Walter Davis (32)	Alvan Adams (15)	Maurice Lucas (6)	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 14,660	3–1
5	May 8	@ Utah	L 106–118	Maurice Lucas (19)	Maurice Lucas (12)	Kyle Macy, Paul Westphal (6)	Salt Palace 12,560	3–2
6	May 10	Utah	W 102–82	Walter Davis (21)	Larry Nance (9)	Walter Davis, Kyle Macy (6)	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 14,660	4–2

Conference Finals: 2–4 (Home: 1–2; Road: 1–2)

Game	Date Time	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	May 12	@ Los Angeles	L 94–110	Walter Davis (24)	Larry Nance (15)	Kyle Macy (10)	The Forum 12,825	0–1
2	May 15	@ Los Angeles	L 102–118	Larry Nance (29)	Larry Nance (9)	Walter Davis (8)	The Forum 16,578	0–2
3	May 18	Los Angeles	W 135–127 (OT)	Walter Davis (34)	Maurice Lucas (17)	Kyle Macy (6)	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 14,660	1–2
4	May 20	Los Angeles	L 115–126	Larry Nance (27)	Maurice Lucas (10)	Walter Davis (7)	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 14,660	1–3
5	May 23	@ Los Angeles	W 126–121	Walter Davis (27)	Larry Nance (13)	Kyle Macy (12)	The Forum 16,848	2–3
6	May 25	Los Angeles	L 97–99	Walter Davis (26)	Maurice Lucas (13)	Kyle Macy (8)	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 14,660	2–4

1984 playoff schedule

Awards and honors

All-Star

Walter Davis was selected as a reserve for the Western Conference in the 1984 NBA All-Star Game. It was his fifth All-Star selection.
Larry Nance competed in the inaugural NBA Slam Dunk Contest. Nance became the league's first Dunk champion, defeating Julius Erving in the final round.
The other Suns player receiving All-Star votes was Maurice Lucas (302,258).

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Adams, Alvan !Alvan Adams	70	13	20.7	.462	.000	.825	4.6	3.1	1.0	.4	9.6
Davis, Walter !Walter Davis	78	70	32.6	.512	.230	.863	2.6	5.5	1.4	.2	20.0
Edwards, James !James Edwards	72	67	26.3	.536	.000	.720	4.8	2.6	.3	.4	14.7
Foster, Rod !Rod Foster	80	34	17.8	.448	.262	.787	1.5	2.2	.7	.1	8.3
High, Johnny !Johnny High	29	9	17.7	.346	.000	.345	2.3	1.8	1.4	.4	1.6
Lucas, Maurice !Maurice Lucas	75	69	30.8	.497	.000	.765	9.7	2.7	.7	.5	15.9
Macy, Kyle !Kyle Macy	82	45	29.3	.501	.329	.833	2.3	4.3	1.5	.1	10.1
Nance, Larry !Larry Nance	82	82	35.4	.576†	.000	.707	8.3	2.6	1.0	2.1	17.7
Pittman, Charles !Charles Pittman	69	8	14.3	.603†	.000	.683	3.1	1.0	.2	.3	4.7
Robey, Rick !Rick Robey	61	4	14.0	.545	1.000	.693	3.2	1.1	.3	.2	5.6
Sanders, Mike !Mike Sanders	50	0	11.7	.478	.	.690	2.1	0.9	.5	.2	4.5
Scott, Alvin !Alvin Scott	65	5	11.3	.444	.500	.778	1.5	0.7	.3	.3	2.6
Westphal, Paul !Paul Westphal	59	2	14.7	.460	.269	.824	0.7	2.5	.7	.1	7.0
White, Rory !Rory White*	22	2	14.0	.479	.	.571	2.8	0.6	.6	.1	7.4

* - Stats with the Suns.
† - Minimum 300 field goals made.

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Adams, Alvan !Alvan Adams	17	0	18.4	.421	.	.679	5.1	2.5	1.0	.6	8.4
Davis, Walter !Walter Davis	17	17	36.6	.535	.273	.897	2.7	6.4	1.7	.2	24.9
Edwards, James !James Edwards	17	17	27.2	.492	.	.706	5.4	1.6	.2	.6	13.8
Foster, Rod !Rod Foster	16	0	8.0	.256	.000	1.000^	0.8	1.1	.3	.1	1.8
Lucas, Maurice !Maurice Lucas	17	16	33.5	.511	.	.808	9.9	3.6	.7	.5	17.4
Macy, Kyle !Kyle Macy	17	15	36.5	.490	.455†	.750	3.2	5.8	1.3	.1	10.4
Nance, Larry !Larry Nance	17	17	37.2	.590	.	.671	8.7	2.4	.9	2.0	16.9
Pittman, Charles !Charles Pittman	17	1	14.9	.549	.000	.621	3.8	0.7	.3	.3	4.4
Robey, Rick !Rick Robey	10	0	4.3	.438	.000	.500	1.0	0.2	.2	.0	1.8
Sanders, Mike !Mike Sanders	15	0	10.1	.478	.	.941^	1.3	0.5	.4	.3	4.0
Scott, Alvin !Alvin Scott	16	0	6.9	.385	1.000†	.667	1.5	0.4	.1	.1	1.6
Westphal, Paul !Paul Westphal	17	2	13.1	.375	.222	.875	0.5	2.2	.7	.0	5.3

† - Minimum 5 three-pointers made.
^ - Minimum 10 free throws made.

Transactions

Trades

June 27, 1983	To Boston Celtics---- Dennis Johnson 1983 first-round draft pick ( Greg Kite) 1983 third-round draft pick ( Winfred King)	To Phoenix Suns---- Rick Robey 1983 second-round draft pick ( Rod Foster) 1983 second-round draft pick ( Paul Williams)
October 17, 1983	To Detroit Pistons---- David Thirdkill	To Phoenix Suns---- 1986 second-round draft pick ( Jeff Hornacek) 1987 second-round draft pick ( Bruce Dalrymple)

Free agents

Additions

Date	Player	Contract	Old Team
June 16, 1983	Kevin Magee	Undisclosed	Pallacanestro Varese (Italy)
September 14, 1983	Paul Westphal	Signed 2-year contract	New York Knicks
December 10, 1983	Mike Sanders	Signed 3-year contract	San Antonio Spurs
January 11, 1984	Johnny High	Signed two 10-day contracts	Phoenix Suns

Subtractions

Date	Player	Reason Left	New Team
September 12, 1983	Joel Kramer	Free agent	Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel)
October 18, 1983	Kevin Magee	Waived	Zaragoza (Spain)
December 10, 1983	Johnny High	Waived	Phoenix Suns
December 20, 1983	Rory White	Waived	Wyoming Wildcatters (CBA)
January 31, 1984	Johnny High	Waived

References

↑ "At 34, Larry Nances is the oldest of the...". The Baltimore Sun. February 22, 1993. Retrieved December 16, 2010.

Standings on Basketball Reference

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

1983–84 NBA season by team

Eastern

Atlantic	Boston New Jersey New York Philadelphia Washington

Central	Atlanta Chicago Cleveland Detroit Indiana Milwaukee

Western

Midwest	Dallas Denver Houston Kansas City San Antonio Utah

Pacific	Golden State Los Angeles Phoenix Portland San Diego Seattle

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