Suns’ No. 1 pick came via years of fans’ misery
When the Phoenix Suns “won” the NBA draft lottery, meaning they get to make the first pick in the June 21 draft, fans of the local team — who had been ripped off for years, bilked, stiffed and taken to the cleaners, season after season after season — burst into cheers.
An emotional Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough said, “In the 50-year history of the Phoenix Suns, there have been a lot of great nights and great accomplishments, and I think this is one of them. This is something the franchise has never done before.”
A great accomplishment?
In other words, stinking up the place for roughly a decade and then, finally — with luck — “winning” a lottery is a great accomplishment?
The Suns records over the past three seasons were 21-61, 24-58 and 23-59.
They stunk.
On purpose. And everyone knew it, especially the paying customers.
I’m not sure there is another entertainment business that asks patrons to purchase tickets for a inferior product — for years — with the hope that the team will be bad it will get the opportunity to select a really good player and then try to win again. And have the fans go along with it. I understand how a brand-new Suns fan can be happy about this No. 1 pick. When the Suns select the University of Arizona’s Deandre Ayton, which is likely to happen, the team’s bandwagon will fill up quickly.
I get that.
I just don’t get the fans who hung around for the losing.
The tanking.
It’s one thing to love a team and stick with them through the bad years because you know the front office is at least trying to win. It’s another thing to do so when they’re doing just the opposite.
It was the worst-kept secret in sports history. There were ongoing reports during the season about numerous teams competing — as if that were the right word — to be the worst in the league and therefore have the best shot at the No. 1 pick.
The Suns, by consistently finding ways to lose, “won.”
Zack Kram of the Ringer wrote, “Congratulations to the Phoenix Suns, ultimate losers of the 2017-18 NBA season but ultimate winners of this year’s heated tanking race.”
Dave King from the Bright Side of the Sun said, “Sadly, that need for the best chance at the #1 pick is how you rationalize rewarding your franchise’s investors and fan base with ugly milestones throughout the 50-year anniversary season, like ‘first team to experience a 50-point deficit in a game’ and ‘first team to amass 50 losses on the season.’ Oof.”
Oof, indeed.
According to Forbes magazine, the Suns franchise is worth more than $1 billion.
Its owner, Robert Sarver, makes lots and lots of money. The team’s most loyal fans have given him millions upon millions more, knowing the team was going to lose, more or less on purpose.
What a gig.
The Suns didn’t win the lottery when they landed the first pick in the NBA draft. They won the lottery a long time ago, when they convinced fans to hand over their hard-earned cash to watch them tank.