1999–2000 Phoenix Suns season

1999–2000 Phoenix Suns season
Shawn Marion's rookie season
Head coach	Danny Ainge, Scott Skiles
General manager	Bryan Colangelo
Owner(s)	Jerry Colangelo
Arena	America West Arena
Results
Record	53–29 (.646)
Place	Division: 3rd (Pacific) Conference: 4th (Western)
Playoff finish	Lost in Semifinals to L.A. Lakers (1–4)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Radio	KTAR

The 1999–00 Phoenix Suns season was the 32nd season for the National Basketball Association's Phoenix Suns. Scott Skiles would come on as head coach, replacing Danny Ainge. The Suns would finish third in the Pacific division at 53–29 and extend the franchise's record for playoff appearances before losing in the Western Conference semifinals.

Clifford Robinson led the team in scoring at 18.5 points per game. Anfernee Hardaway, Jason Kidd, Rodney Rogers, Tom Gugliotta and Shawn Marion rounded out a list of six Suns players averaging double-digits points. Kidd led the NBA in assists per game and was tied for fifth in steals. Rogers finished the regular season fourth in three-point field goal percentage and won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award. Kidd would earn All-NBA First Team and All-Defensive Second Team honors. Late in the season, Kevin Johnson came out of his retirement.

The Suns finished with the same regular season record, but did not have home court advantage going into their first round match-up with the San Antonio Spurs. Still, the Suns would advance to their first conference semifinals appearance since the 1994–95 season en route to taking the series three games to one. The Suns lost in the conference semifinals to new league MVP Shaquille O'Neal and the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers four games to one.

Offseason

NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	9	Shawn Marion	Forward	United States	UNLV

The Suns received the ninth pick from a trade with the Dallas Mavericks in 1998. With the pick they selected combo forward Shawn Marion from UNLV. Marion averaged 18.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 1.9 blocks per game in one year with the Runnin' Rebels. On July 30, the Suns signed him to a 4-year rookie contract for $5.9 million. Though missing two months with a knee injury, Marion averaged 10.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in his first season, and was named to the All-Rookie Second Team. Marion would play over eight seasons with the Suns, becoming an All-Star four times and being named to the All-NBA Third Team twice, before being traded to the Miami Heat in 2008.

The Suns traded their first-round pick to the Chicago Bulls in 1999. With the pick the Bulls selected future All-Star and Defensive Player of the Year Ron Artest (later Metta World Peace). They also traded their second-round pick to the Houston Rockets in 1996. With the pick the Rockets selected Tyrone Washington.

Roster

Phoenix Suns roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB (Y-M-D) From G 12 Bailey, Toby 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 213 lb (97 kg) 1975–11–19 UCLA F 40 Blount, Corie 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1969–01–04 Cincinnati G 3 Chapman, Rex  6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1967–10–05 Kentucky G 11 Day, Todd 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 188 lb (85 kg) 1970–01–07 Arkansas F 24 Gugliotta, Tom  6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1969–12–19 North Carolina State G/F 1 Hardaway, Anfernee 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1971–07–18 Memphis G 7 Johnson, Kevin 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1966–03–04 California G 32 Kidd, Jason 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1973–03–23 California G 2 Livingston, Randy 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 209 lb (95 kg) 1975–04–02 LSU C 13 Longley, Luc 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 265 lb (120 kg) 1969–01–19 New Mexico F 25 MacLean, Don 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1970–01–16 UCLA F 31 Marion, Shawn 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1978–05–07 UNLV C 8 Miller, Oliver 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 280 lb (127 kg) 1970–04–06 Arkansas F/C 30 Robinson, Clifford 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1966–12–16 Connecticut F 54 Rogers, Rodney 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1971–06–20 Wake Forest	Head coach Scott Skiles (Michigan State) Assistant coach(es) Frank Johnson (Wake Forest) John MacLeod (Bellarmine) Phil Weber (North Carolina State) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve	Inactive
C	Luc Longley	Oliver Miller
PF	Clifford Robinson	Corie Blount		Tom Gugliotta Don MacLean
SF	Shawn Marion	Rodney Rogers
SG	Penny Hardaway	Todd Day	Toby Bailey	Rex Chapman
PG	Jason Kidd	Kevin Johnson	Randy Livingston

Regular season

Standings

Pacific Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers	67	15	.817	–	36–5	31–10	20–4
x-Portland Trail Blazers	59	23	.720	8	30–11	29–12	21–3
x-Phoenix Suns	53	29	.646	14	32–9	21–20	15–9
x-Seattle SuperSonics	45	37	.549	22	24–17	21–20	12–12
x-Sacramento Kings	44	38	.537	23	30–11	14–27	9–15
Golden State Warriors	19	63	.232	48	12–29	7–34	2–22
Los Angeles Clippers	15	67	.183	52	10–31	5–36	5–19

#	Western Conference
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Los Angeles Lakers	67	15	.817	–
2	y-Utah Jazz	55	27	.671	12
3	x-Portland Trail Blazers	59	23	.720	8
4	x-San Antonio Spurs	53	29	.646	14
5	x-Phoenix Suns	53	29	.646	14
6	x-Minnesota Timberwolves	50	32	.610	17
7	x-Seattle SuperSonics	45	37	.549	22
8	x-Sacramento Kings	44	38	.537	23
9	Dallas Mavericks	40	42	.488	27
10	Denver Nuggets	35	47	.427	32
11	Houston Rockets	34	48	.415	33
12	Vancouver Grizzlies	22	60	.268	45
13	Golden State Warriors	19	63	.232	48
14	Los Angeles Clippers	15	67	.183	52

Playoffs

Game log

2000 playoff game log
First Round: 3–1 (Home: 2–0; Road: 1–1) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 April 22 @ San Antonio W 72–70 Penny Hardaway, Clifford Robinson (17) Shawn Marion (9) Kevin Johnson (6) Alamodome 21,916 1–0 2 April 25 @ San Antonio L 70–85 Penny Hardaway (19) Corie Blount (11) Kevin Johnson, Clifford Robinson (3) Alamodome 20,617 1–1 3 April 29 San Antonio W 101–94 Penny Hardaway (17) Shawn Marion (14) Penny Hardaway (13) America West Arena 19,023 2–1 4 May 2 San Antonio W 89–78 Penny Hardaway, Rodney Rogers (23) Shawn Marion, Rodney Rogers (10) Jason Kidd (10) America West Arena 19,023 3–1
Conference Semifinals: 1–4 (Home: 1–1; Road: 0–3) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 May 7 @ L.A. Lakers L 77–105 Penny Hardaway (25) Corie Blount, Jason Kidd (7) Jason Kidd (7) Staples Center 18,997 0–1 2 May 10 @ L.A. Lakers L 96–97 Clifford Robinson (30) Corie Blount, Shawn Marion (9) Penny Hardaway (8) Staples Center 18,997 0–2 3 May 12 L.A. Lakers L 99–105 Penny Hardaway (31) Clifford Robinson (9) Jason Kidd (12) America West Arena 19,023 0–3 4 May 14 L.A. Lakers W 117–98 Clifford Robinson (32) Jason Kidd (10) Jason Kidd (16) America West Arena 19,023 1–3 5 May 16 @ L.A. Lakers L 65–87 Todd Day (10) Rodney Rogers (8) Clifford Robinson (4) Staples Center 18,997 1–4
2000 playoff schedule

Awards and honors

Week/Month

• Jason Kidd was named Player of the Week for games played December 12 through December 18.

All-Star

• Jason Kidd was voted as a starter for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. Kidd finished first in voting among Western Conference guards with 1,061,031 votes.

Season

• Rodney Rogers received the Sixth Man of the Year Award. Rogers also finished eighth in Most Improved Player voting.
• Jason Kidd was named to the All-NBA First Team. Kidd also finished tenth in MVP voting.
• Jason Kidd was named to the All-Defensive Second Team. Kidd also finished tenth in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
• Clifford Robinson was named to the All-Defensive Second Team. Robinson also finished tenth in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
• Shawn Marion was named to the All-Rookie Second Team.
• Jason Kidd led the league in assists per game with a 10.1 average.

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
Toby Bailey	46	2	9.8	.414	.200	.692	1.6	0.7	.3	.1	3.5
Corie Blount	38	1	11.7	.494†	.000	.576	3.0	0.3	.4	.2	2.8
Rex Chapman	53	19	18.1	.388	.333	.756	1.5	1.2	.4	.0	6.6
Ben Davis	5	0	4.4	.333	.	.	1.8	.4	.2	.2	0.8
Todd Day	58	1	16.2	.394	.388	.667	2.2	1.1	.8	.4	6.8
Tom Gugliotta	54	54	32.7	.481	.125	.775	7.9	2.3	1.5	.6	13.7
Penny Hardaway	60	60	37.6	.474	.324	.790	5.8	5.3	1.6	.6	16.9
Kevin Johnson	6	0	18.8	.571†	1.000^	1.000#	2.7	4.0	.3	.0	6.7
Jason Kidd	67	67	39.0	.409	.337	.829#	7.2	10.1	2.0	.4	14.3
Randy Livingston	79	15	13.7	.416	.345	.839#	1.6	2.2	.6	.2	4.8
Luc Longley	72	68	19.7	.466	.	.825	4.5	1.1	.3	.6	6.3
Don MacLean	16	0	8.9	.367	.333	.667	1.4	0.5	.1	.1	2.6
Shawn Marion	51	38	24.7	.471	.182	.847#	6.5	1.4	.7	1.0	10.2
Oliver Miller	51	9	21.3	.588†	.	.671	5.1	1.3	.8	1.6	6.3
Clifford Robinson	80	67	35.5	.464	.370	.782	4.5	2.8	1.1	.8	18.5
Rodney Rogers	82	7	27.9	.486†	.439^	.639	5.5	2.1	1.1	.6	13.8
Mark West	22	2	5.8	.417	.	.625	1.4	0.1	.1	.2	0.7

† - Minimum 300 field goals made.
^ - Minimum 55 three-pointers made.
# - Minimum 125 free throws made.

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Toby Bailey	5	0	3.0	.250	.	.500	0.4	0.4	.0	.0	0.8
Corie Blount	9	0	18.0	.548†	.	.556	6.2	0.3	.7	.7	4.9
Todd Day	9	0	11.1	.457	.313	.500	1.1	0.4	.4	.1	4.7
Penny Hardaway	9	9	42.9	.462†	.263	.710	4.9	5.7	1.6	1.0	20.3
Kevin Johnson	9	0	14.3	.324	.000	.833^	1.4	2.6	.3	.1	3.2
Jason Kidd	6	6	38.2	.400	.364	.778^	6.7	8.8	1.8	.2	9.8
Randy Livingston	7	3	9.0	.222	.333	.	1.0	0.6	.6	.1	2.0
Luc Longley	9	9	18.0	.353	.	.667	3.3	0.9	.4	.4	4.2
Shawn Marion	9	9	31.2	.419	.167	.818^	8.8	0.8	.7	1.6	9.1
Oliver Miller	7	0	5.3	.222	.000	.500	1.1	0.1	.0	.3	0.9
Clifford Robinson	9	9	37.0	.386	.325	.733	6.0	2.1	1.2	.8	17.6
Rodney Rogers	9	0	29.2	.417	.222	.742^	6.8	1.6	1.1	1.1	14.1

† - Minimum 20 field goals made.
^ - Minimum 10 free throws made.

Transactions

Trades

August 5, 1999	To Orlando Magic---- Pat Garrity Danny Manning 2001 first-round draft pick ( Jason Collins) 2002 first-round draft pick ( Amar'e Stoudemire)	To Phoenix Suns---- Penny Hardaway

Free agents

Additions

Date	Player	Contract	Former Team
July 30, 1999	Toby Bailey	Re-signed to 1-year contract for $535,000	Phoenix Suns
August 1, 1999	Clifford Robinson	Re-signed to 4-year contract for $29 million	Phoenix Suns
August 1, 1999	Oliver Miller	Signed to 1-year contract for $510,000	Sacramento Kings
August 2, 1999	Rodney Rogers	Signed to 3-year contract for $6.6 million	Los Angeles Clippers
August 17, 1999	Randy Livingston	Re-signed to multi-year contract	Phoenix Suns
September 8, 1999	Corie Blount	Signed to 1-year contract for $1.1 million	Cleveland Cavaliers
October 4, 1999	Todd Day	Signed to 1-year contract for $510,000	La Crosse Bobcats (CBA)
October 5, 1999	Jason Singleton	Undisclosed
October 5, 1999	LaMarcus Golden	Undisclosed	Rapid City Thrillers (IBA)
October 5, 1999	Mike Brown	Undisclosed	Cantabria Lobos
October 5, 1999	Peter Aluma	Undisclosed	Sacramento Kings
October 19, 1999	Mark West	Signed to 1-year contract for $510,000	Atlanta Hawks
December 23, 1999	Ben Davis	Undisclosed	Idaho Stampede (CBA)
January 7, 2000	Ben Davis	Signed 10-day contract	Phoenix Suns
March 13, 2000	Don MacLean	Signed two 10-day contracts	Seattle SuperSonics
March 23, 2000	Kevin Johnson	Signed for rest of season	Phoenix Suns
April 2, 2000	Don MacLean	Signed for rest of season	Phoenix Suns

Subtractions

Date	Player	Reason Left	New Team
October 12, 1999	Kevin Johnson	Retired	Phoenix Suns
October 14, 1999	Jason Singleton	Waived	Sydney Spirit (Australia)
October 14, 1999	LaMarcus Golden	Waived	Siouxland Bombers (IBA)
October 16, 1999	Peter Aluma	Waived	Harlem Globetrotters
October 19, 1999	Mike Brown	Waived	Olympiacos (Greece)
December 21, 1999	Gerald Brown	Waived	La Crosse Bobcats (CBA)
January 5, 2000	Ben Davis	Waived	Phoenix Suns
January 11, 2000	Ben Davis	Waived	Brujos de Guayama (Puerto Rico)
March 25, 2000	Mark West	Waived

References

• Standings on Basketball Reference