1995–96 Phoenix Suns season

1995–96 Phoenix Suns season
Michael Finley's rookie season
Head coach	Paul Westphal, Cotton Fitzsimmons
General manager	Bryan Colangelo
Owner(s)	Jerry Colangelo
Arena	America West Arena
Results
Record	41–41 (.500)
Place	Division: 4th (Pacific) Conference: 7th (Western)
Playoff finish	Lost in first round to San Antonio (1–3)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Radio	KTAR

The 1995–96 Phoenix Suns season was the 28th season for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. Head coach Paul Westphal, who had led the Suns to the 1993 NBA Finals, went 14–19 before being replaced by Cotton Fitzsimmons, who would come on to coach in his third stint with the Suns. They finished fourth in the Pacific Division, and seventh in the Western Conference with a 41-41 record. The Suns were eliminated from the playoffs by the San Antonio Spurs, three games to one, in the Western Conference first round. All home games were played at America West Arena. They were one of the nine teams to defeat the 72-10 Chicago Bulls.

Charles Barkley led the Suns for the fourth consecutive year in both points and rebounds, averaging 23.2 and 11.6 on the season. point guard Kevin Johnson again led the team in assists, averaging 9.2 per game to go with his 18.7 points per game. Michael Finley, a rookie from Wisconsin, who appeared in all 82 regular season games, was third in scoring, averaging 15 points per game, 39.2 minutes per game, and was later named to the All-Rookie First Team. Despite playing all 82 games, Finley went injured on the final day of regular season, and did not play in any of the Suns' playoffs games.

Barkley made his 10th consecutive All-Star Game. The power forward, who had turned 33 years of age during the season, made his 11th All-NBA Team, appearing as a selection on the Third Team. It was the first time in Barkley's career he had not been selected to the First or Second Team. Following the season, Barkley was traded to the Houston Rockets.

Offseason

NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	21	Michael Finley	Guard/Forward	United States	Wisconsin
1	27	Mario Bennett	Forward	United States	Arizona State
2	56	Chris Carr	Guard	United States	Southern Illinois

The Suns received the 21st pick from a trade with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1994. With the pick they would select future All-Star swingman Michael Finley from Wisconsin. Finley averaged 18.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game in four years with the Badgers. On October 4, the Suns signed Finley to a three-year rookie contract for $2.17 million. In his rookie season, Finley would average 15.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.0 steal per game, earning All-Rookie First Team honors. Finley was traded to the Dallas Mavericks midway through his sophomore season for All-Star point guard Jason Kidd.

The Suns used their first-round pick to select small forward Mario Bennett from Arizona State. Bennett averaged 15.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game in three years with the Sun Devils. On October 4, the Suns signed Bennett to a three-year rookie contract for $1.66 million. Bennett underwent knee surgery before the season and remained on the injured reserve until March 1. Bennett would appear in just 19 regular season games, starting in 14 due to injuries, and two playoff games before being waived prior to the 1996–97 season.

The Suns used their second-round pick to select shooting guard Chris Carr from Southern Illinois. Carr averaged 13.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game in three years with the Salukis. On October 2, the Suns signed Carr to a one-year rookie contract for $200,000. Carr appeared in 60 regular season games, starting in ten, and three playoff games. Carr would sign as a free agent with the Minnesota Timberwolves after the season.

Roster

Phoenix Suns roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB (Y-M-D) From PF 34 Barkley, Charles 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 252 lb (114 kg) 1963–02–20 Auburn PF 8 Bennett, Mario 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1973–08–01 Arizona State SG 43 Carr, Chris 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 207 lb (94 kg) 1974–03–12 Southern Illinois C 40 Coker, John 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 253 lb (115 kg) 1971–10–28 Boise State SF 4 Finley, Michael  6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1973–03–06 Wisconsin PF 45 Green, A. C. 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1963–10–04 Oregon State PG 7 Johnson, Kevin 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1966–03–04 California C 35 Kleine, Joe 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 255 lb (116 kg) 1962–01–04 Arkansas PF 15 Manning, Danny 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1966–05–17 Kansas PG 2 Perry, Elliot 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 150 lb (68 kg) 1969–03–28 Memphis SG 11 Person, Wesley 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1971–03–28 Auburn PG 14 Rencher, Terrence 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1973–02–19 Texas PF 23 Tisdale, Wayman 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1964–06–09 Oklahoma C 18 Williams, John 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1962–08–09 Tulane	Head coach Cotton Fitzsimmons (Midwestern State) Assistant coach(es) Donn Nelson (Wheaton) Paul Silas (Creighton) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve	Inactive
C	Hot Rod Williams	Wayman Tisdale	Joe Kleine	John Coker
PF	Charles Barkley	A. C. Green
SF	Michael Finley	Danny Manning	Mario Bennett
SG	Wesley Person	Chris Carr
PG	Kevin Johnson	Elliot Perry		Terrence Rencher

Regular season

Standings

Pacific Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Seattle SuperSonics	64	18	.780	–	38–3	26–15	21–3
x-Los Angeles Lakers	53	29	.646	11	30–11	23–18	17–7
x-Portland Trail Blazers	44	38	.537	20	26–15	18–23	11–13
x-Phoenix Suns	41	41	.500	23	25–16	16–25	9–15
x-Sacramento Kings	39	43	.476	25	26–15	13–28	11–13
Golden State Warriors	36	46	.439	28	23–18	13–28	7–17
Los Angeles Clippers	29	53	.354	35	19–22	10–31	7–17

Western Conference
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Seattle SuperSonics	64	18	.780	–
2	y-San Antonio Spurs	59	23	.720	5
3	x-Utah Jazz	55	27	.671	9
4	x-Los Angeles Lakers	53	29	.646	11
5	x-Houston Rockets	48	34	.585	16
6	x-Portland Trail Blazers	44	38	.537	20
7	x-Phoenix Suns	41	41	.500	23
8	x-Sacramento Kings	39	43	.476	25
9	Golden State Warriors	36	46	.439	28
10	Denver Nuggets	35	47	.427	29
11	Los Angeles Clippers	29	53	.354	35
12	Dallas Mavericks	26	56	.317	38
13	Minnesota Timberwolves	26	56	.317	38
14	Vancouver Grizzlies	15	67	.183	49

Playoffs

Game log

1996 playoff game log
First Round: 1–3 (Home: 1–1; Road: 0–2) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 April 26 @ San Antonio L 98–120 Charles Barkley (26) Charles Barkley (12) Kevin Johnson (11) Alamodome 16,545 0–1 2 April 28 @ San Antonio L 105–110 Charles Barkley (30) Charles Barkley (20) Kevin Johnson (16) Alamodome 19,507 0–2 3 May 1 San Antonio W 94–93 Charles Barkley (25) Charles Barkley (13) Kevin Johnson (8) America West Arena 19,023 1–2 4 May 3 San Antonio L 98–116 Charles Barkley (21) Charles Barkley (9) Kevin Johnson (8) America West Arena 19,023 1–3
1996 playoff schedule

Awards and honors

Week/Month

• Kevin Johnson was named Player of the Week for games played April 1 through April 7.
• Charles Barkley was named Player of the Month for February.

All-Star

• Charles Barkley was voted as a starter for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. It was his tenth consecutive All-Star selection. Barkley finished first in voting among Western Conference players with 1,268,195 votes.
• Other Suns players receiving All-Star votes were: A. C. Green (269,175).
• Michael Finley was selected to compete in the Slam Dunk Contest. Finley finished second, losing to champion Brent Barry in the final round.
• Michael Finley was selected to compete for the Western Conference in the Rookie Challenge.

Season

• Charles Barkley was named to the All-NBA Third Team. Barkley also finished 12th in MVP voting.
• Michael Finley was named to the All-Rookie First Team. Finley also finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting.

Injuries/Missed Games

• 10/31/95: Mario Bennett: Knee chondromalacia; placed on injured reserve until March 1
• 10/31/95: John Coker: Foot stress fracture; placed on injured reserve until March 8
• 10/31/95: Danny Manning: Torn ACL; placed on injured list until February 1
• 11/10/95: Kevin Johnson: Strained knee tendon; out until November 18
• 11/27/95: Wayman Tisdale: Sore shoulder; did not play
• 12/02/95: Kevin Johnson: Sore hamstring; did not play
• 12/08/95: Charles Barkley: Flu; did not play
• 12/08/95: Elliot Perry: Bruised lower back; did not play
• 12/16/95: Kevin Johnson: Strained groin; out until January 21
• 12/16/95: Stefano Rusconi: Flu; did not play
• 12/19/95: Hot Rod Williams: Sprained knee; out until December 27
• 01/04/96: Stefano Rusconi: Injured achilles tendon; out until waived on January 31
• 01/09/96: Charles Barkley: Sore toe; out until January 21
• 01/09/96: Hot Rod Williams: Leg nerve irritation; out until January 28
• 02/08/96: Kevin Johnson: Strained hamstring, strained groin; out until February 19
• 02/13/96: Wayman Tisdale: Injured eye; did not play
• 03/01/96: Terrence Rencher: Sprained ankle; placed on injured list until April 22
• 03/07/96: Wayman Tisdale: Bruised shoulder; did not play
• 03/08/96: Wayman Tisdale: Strained shoulder; placed on injured list until March 29
• 03/13/96: Danny Manning: Sprained ankle; out until March 21
• 03/29/96: John Coker: Sore foot, placed on injured list until April 22
• 04/02/96: Mario Bennett: Flu; out until April 10
• 04/07/96: Danny Manning: Knee tendinitis; out until April 16
• 04/10/96: Hot Rod Williams: Injured hand, wrist, foot; out until April 19
• 04/14/96: Joe Kleine: Fainting spell; out until April 26
• 04/16/96: Charles Barkley: Strained calf; out until April 26
• 04/21/96: Kevin Johnson: Strained calf; did not play
• 04/26/96: Michael Finley: Sprained ankle; did not play
• 04/28/96: Michael Finley: Sprained ankle; did not play
• 05/01/96: Michael Finley: Sprained ankle; did not play
• 05/03/96: Michael Finley: Sprained ankle; did not play

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
Charles Barkley	71	71	37.1	.500	.280	.777	11.6	3.7	1.6	.8	23.2
Mario Bennett	19	14	12.1	.453	.000	.643	2.6	0.3	.6	.6	4.5
Chris Carr	60	10	9.8	.415	.262	.817	1.7	0.7	.2	.1	4.0
John Coker	5	0	2.2	.800†	.	.	0.4	0.2	.0	.2	1.6
Michael Finley	82	72	39.2	.476	.328	.749	4.6	3.5	1.0	.4	15.0
A. C. Green	82	36	25.8	.484	.269	.709	6.8	0.9	.5	.3	7.5
Kevin Johnson	56	55	35.8	.507†	.368	.859#	3.9	9.2	1.5	.2	18.7
Joe Kleine	56	9	11.8	.420	.286	.800	2.4	0.8	.2	.1	2.9
Danny Manning	33	4	24.7	.459	.214	.752	4.3	2.0	1.2	.7	13.4
Elliot Perry	81	26	20.6	.475	.407^	.778	1.7	4.4	1.1	.1	8.6
Wesley Person	82	47	31.8	.445	.374^	.771	3.9	1.7	.7	.3	12.7
Terrence Rencher*	2	0	4.0	1.000†	.	.333	1.0	0.0	.0	.5	1.5
Stefano Rusconi	7	0	4.3	.333	.	.400	0.9	0.4	.0	.3	1.1
Tony Smith*	34	2	15.5	.405	.325	.649	1.6	2.5	.6	.1	5.6
Wayman Tisdale	63	6	18.3	.495	.	.765	3.4	0.9	.2	.6	10.7
Hot Rod Williams	62	58	26.6	.453	.000	.731	6.0	1.0	.7	1.5	7.3
David Wood*	4	0	8.5	.167	.	1.000#	1.3	0.5	.3	.0	1.0

* - Stats with the Suns.
† - Minimum 300 field goals made.
^ - Minimum 82 three-pointers made.
# - Minimum 125 free-throws made.

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Charles Barkley	4	4	41.0	.443	.250	.787	13.5	3.8	1.0	1.0	25.5
Mario Bennett	2	0	4.0	.500	.	.	1.5	0.0	.0	.0	2.0
Chris Carr	3	0	12.0	.643	.667	.800	2.3	1.3	.7	.3	8.0
A. C. Green	4	4	21.8	.353	.000	.875	4.5	0.5	.3	.0	4.8
Kevin Johnson	4	4	37.8	.474	.250	.824	4.3	10.8	.5	.5	17.3
Joe Kleine	2	0	4.0	.000	.	.	0.5	0.0	.5	.0	0.0
Danny Manning	4	0	22.5	.458	.000	.625	2.8	1.3	1.0	.3	12.3
Elliot Perry	4	0	12.8	.500	.	.000	0.5	3.0	.5	.0	3.5
Wesley Person	4	4	45.8	.393	.310	.800	5.8	0.8	.8	.3	14.3
Wayman Tisdale	4	0	16.8	.333	.	.500	1.0	0.5	.3	.3	5.3
Hot Rod Williams	4	4	28.8	.438	.	.667	6.5	0.3	.0	1.8	9.0

Transactions

Trades

October 7, 1995	To Cleveland Cavaliers---- Dan Majerle Antonio Lang 1997 first-round draft pick ( Brevin Knight)	To Phoenix Suns---- John "Hot Rod" Williams
February 22, 1996	To Miami Heat---- Tony Smith	To Phoenix Suns---- Terrence Rencher

Free agents

Additions Date Player Contract Former Team June 15, 1995 Stefano Rusconi Signed multi-year contract September 22, 1995 Elliot Perry Signed 6-year contract for $12 million Phoenix Suns September 25, 1995 John Coker Undisclosed October 3, 1995 Orlando Smart Undisclosed October 3, 1995 Steve Turner Undisclosed October 4, 1995 Isaac Burton Undisclosed October 4, 1995 Wayman Tisdale Signed 2-year contract for $6.65 million Phoenix Suns October 12, 1995 Danny Manning Signed 6-year contract for $40 million Phoenix Suns November 1, 1995 Tony Smith Signed 1-year contract for $500,000 Los Angeles Lakers January 18, 1996 David Wood Signed 10-day contract Golden State Warriors Subtractions Date Player Reason Left New Team June 24, 1995 Trevor Ruffin Expansion Draft Vancouver Grizzlies September 18, 1995 Danny Ainge Retired October 15, 1995 Isaac Burton Waived October 15, 1995 Steve Turner Waived November 2, 1995 Orlando Smart Waived January 28, 1996 David Wood 10-day contract expired Dallas Mavericks January 31, 1996 Stefano Rusconi Waived References Standings on Basketball Reference