I used to be basketball obsessed! I followed the Suns the way I do the Coyotes now. Hell I was even a Suns ball boy. I will say this much, I don't think any team will ever compare to the '93 Suns team, at least not here in the valley. That team kinda put the city of Phoenix on the map and the percentage of people who followed the Suns was extremely high. The bandwagon could be spotted from space it was so huge. Every fast food restaurant, church, mechanic shop...basically any establishment with a sign had "Go Suns" on it. It was easier to count cars without Orange and Purple paraphernalia than it was to count those with it. Hell my grandma was a huge Suns fan (so cute..."those bigger boys shouldn't treat KJ that way" haha)! It was just a culmination of a burgeoning city with it's original professional team busting out on the national stage, new state of the art arena, the love affair with newly acquired superstar Sir Charles, the best record in franchise history, etc. They were a team of destiny and practically the whole city new it and embraced it. Then....John Paxton. Seriously, **** that guy! I will hate that man for as long as I shall ever live!!
Sadly, now days I don't care about the NBA at all. Somewhere in the late 90's I just got tired of it. The flopping was starting to get ridiculous, fouls for even thinking about a superstar, the final 30 seconds taking 2 hours, etc. It was just getting lame and the straw the broke the camels back for me was the over infusion of the NBA being a "lifestyle" and not just a sport. It's like you had to dress a certain way, listen to certain music, etc. in order to be an NBA fan. It was all style, no substance and I got tired of it. I haven't followed the NBA since.