The Infamous Drug Scandal

[fordronken]

I posted something along these lines earlier, but it seems to have gotten buried in another thread.

The drug scandal was a little before my time, and my efforts in the past to search on it have come up relatively hush-hush. If anyone has the stomache or inclination to give a kind of recount on those events, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a bunch.

 

[boisesuns]

Yeah, i'd like to know more about what happened as well.

 

[elindholm]

I'm old enough to remember that it happened and that it was a big deal, but no details. A quick internet search (which I imagine others have tried) was fruitless.

 

[fordronken]

Well now I'm definitely curious.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

there was this nba team. they were called the suns. a member of that team was walter davis. a bunch of the team members did drugs. most of 'em were shipped out. walter was spared until he went to denver to finish his career. there was a scandal.


actually, i'm old enough to remember a scandal happened, but also young enough not to know the details.

 

[Ryanwb]

MLB had a simular incident a few years earlier that got a lot more publicity. The one positive that came out of it was the fact that it allowed Colangelo to come in with his investors and purchase the team.

 

[nathan]

Here's an aftermath article I found with Lexis Nexis. I'm still looking for a 1500 word magazine article that actually explains everything but this is still interesting.
------------------------------------------------------------
SECTION: SPORTS; Pg. 51

LENGTH: 1533 words

HEADLINE: From the ashes of a contrived drug scandal and a woeful ballclub, Colangelo and Fitzsimmons brought their club back. Now they're . . .
THE RISING SUNS

BYLINE: By Bob Ryan, Globe Staff

DATELINE: PHOENIX

BODY:
Cotton Fitzsimmons had a modest goal for his Phoenix Suns this season.

"To be very honest," the Suns coach says, "I set the easiest goal possible. I wanted to make the playoffs. Notice I didn't say 'have a winning record and make the playoffs.' I was being optimistic and realistic at the same time."

Take a look at the Western Conference standings. The Phoenix Suns team the Celtics will play tonight (9:30, Channel 56) owns a 30-17 record, second best in the West. They have already exceeded last year's victory total (28). The Suns will definitely be in the playoffs for the first time since 1985.

An explanation is in order.

"Somebody up there likes us," smiles Fitzsimmons, "and probably feels the Suns have been kicked around long enough and deserve a break today."

Nice joke, that, but the truth is that it was Cotton Fitzsimmons himself who identified the Suns' problem two years ago. That's when John MacLeod was fired by team president Jerry Colangelo and Fitzsimmons was merely a prominent private citizen attending a Suns game. A local TV man stuck a microphone in front of Fitzsimmons' face and asked him what he thought of the MacLeod firing.

"Read my lips," said Fitzsimmons. "The Suns need better players."

Thanks to Fitzsimmons and Colangelo, they now have them. And Fitzsimmons is coaching them with his special brand of wisdom and enthusiasm.

It would not be a major descent into hyperbole to label the 57-year-old NBA veteran a "savior." The Suns are just two years removed from one of the most despicable and harrowing experiences ever to befall an NBA team. After Colangelo spent 18 years constructing a positive image in the Phoenix community - he has been with the team since its inception in 1968 - it came crashing down in the wake of a politically oriented smear campaign which tried to take the ramblings of a discredited bartender and casual marijuana use almost a decade old and tie the two together as a major gambling and drug conspiracy.

The plot would have made for a bad TV movie, but it was all too real for Colangelo and the entire Suns organization. Maricopa County Attorney Tom Collins and Phoenix Police Chief Ruben Ortega latched onto the allegations of bartender Charlie Keenan that Jimmy Jordan, owner of a Phoenix nightclub called Malarkey's, had given a line of cocaine to Milwaukee players Jack Sikma and Paul Mokeski in exchange for betting information: namely, whether to go for the over or the under on the Suns-Bucks game of Feb. 21, 1987. The headline-seeking duo attacked the story with a pit bull-like ferocity, spending an estimated $ 2 million worth of the taxpayers' money without ever being able to return a gambling indictment. As for drugs, the best they could do was pressure admitted user Walter Davis into squealing to a grand jury about some casual marijuana use with teammates over the preceding decade. Whoopee.

The Collins-Ortega duo succeeded in making the Suns a local pariah. And then, having displayed shocking naivete about the nature of gambling and zero sensitivity toward the public image of the players and the organization which had worked so hard to ingratiate itself with the community (and which, reminds Colangelo, was so squeaky clean that its basic reputation was that it was "vanilla"), they walked away without so much as a "maybe we overdid it."

Tom Ambrose, the team vice president in charge of public relations, recalls the experience. "I remember going outside each day to pick up my morning paper, and even before I looked at it, I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach," Ambrose says. "After a front office has spent many years together, as ours has, you get very close. It's like an attack on your family."

Guard Jeff Hornacek is the only player remaining from that team, and he says it's not an experience he'd care to repeat. "My wife is a substitute teacher," he explains, "and one day a little kid said to her, 'Does your husband do drugs, too?' "
It was a classic witch hunt. And all for what?

"Early on," says Colangelo, "when I learned the bits and pieces of the case and realized there was nothing to it, I couldn't believe what was happening. I said to Tom Collins, 'Why are you doing this? Why?' When it was all over, he said he'd do it again. I said, 'I repeat the question: Why?' "

So there were the Suns of two short years ago, their reputation shot and their team a mess on the floor. A team that had averaged 52 wins a year from 1977-83 was on its way to a four-year average haul of 33 wins.

Colangelo's first move was to hire Fitzsimmons as his player personnel director. His second was bold to the max. With the team image at an all-time low, he exercised an option and formed a limited partnership to purchase the team for a then-record $ 44.5 million. The day-to-day buck had stopped at his office for many years, but now he was totally responsible as president and CEO.

By February 1988, he knew the team as then constituted was just not going to get the job done. He also knew he had to get the tainted players out of town. Based strongly on Fitzsimmons' recommendations, Colangelo acted with swiftness. On Feb. 24, James Edwards was traded to Detroit for Ron Moore and a 1991 No. 2.

A day later, Colangelo made two moves. Guard Jay Humphries was shipped to Milwaukee for Craig Hodges and Golden State's 1988 No. 2. But the big one was with Cleveland. After weeks of dickering, the Suns traded 29-year-old Larry Nance, their best player, along with forward Mike Sanders and a Detroit 1988 No. 1 obtained for William Bedford, for rookie guard Kevin Johnson, center Mark West, swingman Tyrone Corbin, Cleveland's 1988 No. 1 and No. 2 and a Laker 1989 No. 2.

"Nance was our most marketable asset," explains Colangelo. "We'd never get any more for him."

The key for Phoenix was Kevin Johnson, who was stuck playing behind Mark Price. Fitzsimmons absolutely loved him, but there was a time he didn't think he'd ever get him - or any of the others they wanted.

"I went to see Cleveland play at Washington," Fitzsimmons recalls. "The Bullets jumped on them by 20-some. Then Kevin and these other guys came in and Cleveland came from behind and won the game. I called Jerry and said we wouldn't be able to make the deal. I said, 'Kevin came in and put on the afterburners. He showed too much. They'll never part with him.' "

But the Cavs had Price and they needed Nance to get to the next level. It was the ultimate deal that has enhanced both teams.

When the deal was made, unrestricted veteran free agency had yet to be approved. Once it was, the Suns had a game plan. "We picked out the man we wanted and planned accordingly," says Colangelo. The target was Seattle's Tom Chambers, a big-time forward with a reputation for selfish play. At 12:01 on July 5, the Suns called Chambers' agent, Howard Slusher. In very short order, Chambers became a Sun, and the team was in place.

There was also a new coach - Cotton Fitzsimmons. Colangelo knew he'd be depicted as a heartless Dudley Nightshade sort for deposing first-year coach John Wetzel, but he felt the young Suns would need a father figure for a coach. Without Fitzsimmons, the present Suns record would not be a reality.

"He's a very positive guy," says Hornacek. "He gets on us, but in a way to help people. The key is how he lets us play. We don't have many set-up plays. He is kind of guiding us."

Chambers and veteran Eddie Johnson are explosive 20-points-a-game scorers. Second-year bull Armon Gilliam is scoring 18 ppg while learning his trade. Hornacek is a solid professional guard. But the man who ties it all together is Kevin Johnson, who in his second year has blossomed into an elite point guard.

"The point guard has always been my key," points out Fitzsimmons. "If I had the best center in the world, or a Dr. J or Larry Bird at forward, maybe I wouldn't say that. The first thing about Kevin is that I like his attitude. Yeah, we say that about everybody, but half the time it's b.s. But I really like his attitude. Secondly, aside from not being that tall (6 feet 1 inch), he is built like the perfect point guard. He's as quick, agile and explosive as any point guard in the NBA today."

The Suns are far from perfect. They are a classic "doughnut" team, well stocked at forward and guard, but weak in the middle. They're still learning to play team defense. But they can titillate a scoreboard with the best of them, and with Fitzsimmons' astonishing enthusiasm driving them, they're having more fun than they've ever had. They're winning a lot more than they're losing. They're on the way to setting a team attendance record. It's once again chic to be a Phoenix Sun.

Winning has always cured a lot of ills in our society, as Colangelo notes. He's busy orchestrating a deal for a much-needed downtown arena, and he knows he would have far less clout at the moment if the Suns had a record like, say, Indiana's. "The timing is very welcome," he says.

As for the players, life couldn't be much better. "Are you kidding?" inquires Eddie Johnson. "How many times have I ever had a chance to go on the road and beat Boston, and then beat the Lakers twice in one season?"

 

[nathan]

On April 15, 1987, three Suns players - Jay Humphries, James Edwards and Grant Gondrezick - were among 13 people indicted by a Maricopa County grand jury on felony charges related to drug and gambling activities. Also indicted were former Suns Garfield Heard and Mike Bratz. Suns star guard Walter Davis, who twice entered rehabilitation for drug problems, was granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony. However, none of the players went to trial and most of the charges were dropped.
Further, the team had failed to make the playoffs. The owners were disillusioned. A franchise shift became a possibility.
Colangelo has been with the Suns since their 1968 inception as general manager (with two brief coaching stints). He and a group of local investors bought the team in October 1987 for $ 44.5 million, then the highest price paid for an NBA franchise.
''I had enough faith in the community and the value of the franchise at that point and where it would be in the future,'' Colangelo said.

 

[Azlen]

This is what is written in the suns.com history section.

Maricopa County Attorney Tom Collins and Phoenix police chief Ruben Ortega called a news conference to announce that a grand jury had indicted five current or former Suns players on drug charges. Six other current or former players were linked to the case as well.
Immediately after the indictments were announced, Davis returned to the NBA's treatment program. Condemnation of the Suns by the news media was immediate and devastating, but much of the case was found to be based on rumors, gossip and hearsay. Drug tests administered to the Suns proved negative. No drugs were confiscated. No trials were held, and no jail time was served.

 

[nathan]

HEADLINE: For Suns, It's Time To Get Up;
Team in Turmoil

BYLINE: Anthony Cotton, Washington Post Staff Writer

DATELINE: PHOENIX

BODY:
The recent National Basketball Association meetings might have provided the Phoenix Suns an opportunity to show they had begun to break through the darkness that has engulfed what had once been considered a flagship franchise.

It has been a year marred by the death in a plane crash of one player, grand jury indictments for alleged drug abuse and gambling by other players, and dreadful play on the court. Then the NBA added to the gloom by moving the meetings scheduled here to southern California, citing the racial and political climate in Arizona under the administration of controversial Gov. Evan Mecham.

"That's not our fault," new head coach John Wetzel said, "but it lends to the idea of the Phoenix Suns having a bad name; we're associated with that. It seems like we can't catch a break."

Added General Manager Jerry Colangelo: "It makes you wonder what's going to happen next."

What happens next may well be the most intriguing question. Team officials say they hope to heal old wounds and make peace with the Phoenix community as well as within the organization. It's not going to be easy.

"I'm a guy who's used to hard times," Colangelo said, "because I'm from the wrong side of the tracks, but this has taxed the very fiber of what you're made of, what you stand for. There's been a lot of damage done to this franchise; our hearts were pierced."

Of all the misfortunes that beset the Suns, nothing was as tragic as the death of center Nick Vanos in the August crash of a Northwest airliner near Detroit. Entering what would have been his third NBA season, Vanos was expected to be a major contributor, if not a starter.

"He had just started to get better and feeling good about himself, started to put his head up," said Wetzel. "The players liked him. As a rookie he wasn't ready. He was hurt and he probably babied himself too much. But last year there was a complete turnaround. In this league, the respect of your peers is everything, and Nick had gotten that."

During an outstanding 10-year career, all with the Suns, guard Walter Davis had surely earned the respect of the team -- of the entire NBA. But all that might have been lost forever this March, when he testified before a Maricopa County (Ariz.) grand jury investigating drug possession and trafficking and possible gambling and bribery by and of professional athletes.

Davis, who had entered a drug rehabilitation clinic in December 1985, was the first witness before the grand jury. Testifying under immunity from prosecution, he said some former and present teammates used cocaine.

Less than a month later, indictments were handed up against 13 people, including Suns center James Edwards (one count each of conspiracy to possess a narcotic drug, to transfer a narcotic drug, to transfer or possess marijuana); guard Jay Humphries (conspiracy to transfer and/or possess marijuana and/or narcotic drug) and guard Grant Gondrezick (conspiracy to possess narcotic drug, conspiring to transfer or offer to transfer narcotic drug, attempting to possess same).The Case Dwindles

When the indictments were announced in April, the stir grew as prosecutors and law enforcement officials announced their probe would have far-reaching, "national repercussions."

Little of the sort happened. In fact, today, the biggest question is how the case ever got as far as it did. On Sept. 13, after Edwards admitted using marijuana once and agreed to enter drug counseling, the charges against him were dismissed. A similar agreement had been reached with Humphries earlier. Gondrezick was put on probation after pleading guilty to a charge of witness-tampering in the case.

The dropping of charges against Edwards continued a pattern in which the cases against five of the men indicted were dismissed or returned to the grand jury for review. At no point was any of the talk of gambling substantiated. An editorial in the Arizona Republic likened the investigation's lack of tangible results to "a missed layup rather than a slam dunk."

"There was a great deal of sensationalism and it was supposed to be a very big thing, but it was a big zero," said Colangelo. "There were some difficult weeks and months and what materialized was the unraveling of their case. When this broke, we said that the players were innocent until proven guilty and that before we hanged them let's see what happened, but people went ahead and tried them and convicted them anyway.

"Why did it get to that point? Today, the media has to look at the whole story and come to its own conclusion and judgments. I'm not going to be the judge and jury."Defense Doesn't Rest

Others, however, are willing to offer their opinions.

"Was it all to show how tough they are on drugs or was it to further political careers? The only reason this happened the way it did was because it was politically comfortable and advantageous for someone," said Reggie Turner, a lawyer for Edwards and Humphries.

"Initially, they thought they had The Bomb. After the initial investigations and they got their preliminary information, you would think they would have said that there wasn't a lot there . . . but at that point they couldn't pull out gracefully -- they had to extract their pound of flesh to avoid the appearance of total incompetence."

Turner said he is considering legal action on behalf of his clients against Maricopa County. Citing a gag order covering the participants in the case, Maricopa County Attorney Tom Collins declined to be interviewed for this article, as did Davis.

It is estimated that the county spent nearly $ 500,000 on the case. There's no way to estimate the cost to the Phoenix Suns.

From 1977 to 1983, the team averaged 52 victories a year, one of the best records in the NBA. In the last four years, the average is 36.

Despite all that's happened, season ticket sales are down only 3 percent from last year, perhaps partly a result of a slick video cassette mailed by the team to 3,000 customers, highlighting the team on the floor and featuring a united front of management and players promising to rise above the events of the past year.

"I guess, if everything were in place and zinging along, the job wouldn't have been open," said Wetzel, named this summer to replace John MacLeod, who was fired in February after nearly 14 seasons with the Suns.

Although Dick Van Arsdale was named interim coach, Wetzel ran the show in practices and during the games. At the start of this season, though, Xs and Os likely will be the least of his problems. Colangelo has said that Davis, who returned to a drug rehabilitation clinic in April, will return to the team this season, rejoining the men he testified against.

"Walter is accused of ratting on his teammates," said Colangelo. "Now, if a guy stepped up and said, 'Here's what I know,' that's one thing, but if he's put in a position where he has no choice but to talk, that's another. What I have to do is try to mend the wounds and help the relationships between all parties. Things may never be the same, but we have to make the best of the situation."

Colangelo and Wetzel say one-on-one meetings between Davis and his teammates are being conducted to try to ensure a smooth passage into the upcoming season. One of those players Davis spoke with is forward Mike Sanders, the Suns' player representative.

"He's trying to make amends right now, trying to clear the air and help us to understand what happened better," said Sanders. "Walter feels that he was set up by the investigators, that it wasn't a fair game and that he was caught up in a situation that he couldn't handle.

"We don't have a choice about playing with him -- the general manager took that option away. We've got to play with him, but I can't see socializing with him after the games."

After an offseason workout here last week, Humphries, the starting point guard, said that, while "everything would work out okay," it was too early to comment on whether he would be able to coexist with Davis, his back-court partner. Turner expressed doubts:

"Do they want to [coexist]? We'll see. No, I'm hedging, I know they don't want to, but what choice do they have? James Edwards is coming off Achilles' tendon surgery [that caused him to miss 68 games last season]. Do they got to be friends? You can forget that. I don't think they were that close beforehand, it's certainly not going to happen now.

"There are some real exposed nerves and emotions here. It's probably salvageable but they have to stop babying and covering for Walter Davis, stop reaching out to him like a fallen angel. The players are saying, 'Five years ago I smoked a joint and I have to go to trial and see a possible 40-year prison term and here's Walter Davis going to lunch and playing golf with team officials every other week.' . . .

"Right now, the guys on the team are scared to death to get close to anyone or to make their feelings known. If you're Mike Sanders and you see them just trading for Eddie Johnson and signing Bill Martin to a contract, do you march in and say, 'I can't play with Walter Davis?' They'll say, 'Okay, that won't be a problem,' and get rid of you.

"I wouldn't be surprised if there were a number of physical altercations before it's all over," said Turner. "Take practices. What happens when Walter Davis starts to think that someone is taking cheap shots at him and he decides to retaliate? I've told my guys that, as much as they want to kick Walter Davis' butt, they have to put it aside."

That is precisely the scenario Wetzel is hoping to avoid. "If I have any uneasiness at all about anything, I've got to address it right away," he said. "If I don't, it could fester and boil over."

"Everyone is saying that Phoenix is a bunch of druggers; we're not, but the whole franchise has been tarnished," Wetzel said. "Players' lives have been totally distorted . . . and that may never be rectified."

 

[nathan]

LENGTH: 1337 words

HEADLINE: VIEWS OF SPORT;
A Better Team Defense Against Drugs

BYLINE: By JERRY COLANGELO; Jerry Colangelo is the owner of the Phoenix Suns.

BODY:
IN December 1985, Walter Davis, the star guard for the Phoenix Suns, stepped forward to ask for help in dealing with an addiction to cocaine and alcohol. As shocking a revelation as that announcement was, within 18 months, the Davis case would grow into a nationally publicized investigation of drug use among present and former players, sending shock waves throughout Phoenix and the National Basketball Association.

On April 17, 1987, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office and the Phoenix Police Department, using grand jury testimony from Davis and others, held a news conference to announce the indictments of 13 people on drug-related charges. Included among the accused were two former and three active Suns players. Simultaneously, Davis, admitting a drug relapse, came forward a second time for treatment under the N.B.A.'s anti-drug program.

Our organization responded to the indictments by announcing that we would stand by our players, that they were innocent until proven guilty. The news media however, tried, convicted and sentenced the Suns within a period of 72 hours, long before the facts in the case, or lack of facts, became known.

What were the final results of the so-called Suns drug scandal? None of the accused ever went to trial. The charges against seven of the defendants were dismissed outright. Of the active players involved, one pleaded guilty to a non-drug-related charge and received probation, while the other two players agreed to enter a prosecution diversion program, which will clear their records entirely after a year of counseling and drug testing.

Three other indicted people, none of whom had any connection to our franchise, pleaded guilty to various drug counts. The longest sentence imposed was 30 days. Although the prosecution's case was ill-advised and not successful, the damage done to reputations, relationships and innocent lives was irreversible.

There has been a great deal of healing since last spring, but the entire episode has left ugly scars on the Suns and the N.B.A. It has also left us with strong opinions about the drug problem - in society, in sports and especially in the N.B.A.

When a drug problem surfaces, the first responsibility of a team is to help the individual be treated and recover. It is not the potential loss of the player to the team, or the potential effect on victories and losses, or the negative impact that the drug stigma would have on the team that should guide the response of a team, but rather what might cure the person inside the uniform.

The N.B.A.'s drug program has been in effect since September 1983, and it has been hailed by experts as the best program of its kind in professional sports. The problems that arose in Phoenix tested the structure of the N.B.A.'s anti-drug agreement and showed that, although the N.B.A. plan may be the best in professional sports, it can be improved.

Briefly, the N.B.A. plan is twofold, covering voluntary submission and drug violations. If a player comes forward seeking help for a drug problem, the league responds with counseling and medical assistance. A player voluntarily seeking help is permitted a second chance in case of a relapse, but any subsequent illegal use of drugs, even if voluntarily disclosed, results in immediate and permanent dismissal from the league. The second aspect of the N.B.A. plan is permanent dismissal of any player who is found to be illegally using or distributing drugs. After two years, the dismissal may be appealed, but thus far no one has successfully re-entered the league through this process.

As currently set up, the drug plan is an agreement between the Players Association and the N.B.A. The players go through a series of drug seminars as part of the agreement, and during a crisis, most of the contact is between the player and the league, the Players Association and the treatment-center counselors. The team involved is effectively taken out of the loop. Ideally, the program is set up in this fashion to remove any suggestion of impropriety between the team and its affected player. Pragmatically, however, the team needs to have more involvement, I believe.

First, I think greater emphasis should be placed on the training and education of coaches, trainers and general managers, to increase their awareness of the signs and symptoms of drug and alcohol abuse. Players and team officials must then recognize their responsibility to report potential drug problems or to encourage those involved with drugs or alcohol to seek help through the league program.

Second, when a player comes forward and asks for help in dealing with drug or alcohol problems, a team should encourage him to stay in treatment as long as his individual case requires. As it stands now, the N.B.A. program takes him out of the basketball environment and places him in a special treatment and counseling facility. After four to six weeks of treatment, he is returned to the same environment that caused the problem in the first place.

Is four to six weeks sufficient time to begin an effective cure? How much time is really necessary? Maybe it takes a year. Maybe it takes two years. Whatever it takes, greater consideration must be given to the needs of the individual to help him break the cycle of addiction. That's the major issue.

A critical part of the current drug agreement involves the submitting of information by the team to an independent expert, whose job it is to determine if the information submitted constitutes reasonable cause to order random drug testing of a player suspected of using drugs.

In my opinion, when a team has reason to believe that a player is involved with drugs or alcohol, there should be a direct confrontation between team management and the player. In a crisis, a team should stand by its players and be supportive in every way possible. The player should be encouraged to come forward and seek professional help. But if that fails, if the player is still not willing to come forward himself, the team must turn him in to the Players Association and the league office, for his benefit, to save his life. More important than his career at that particular time is what's going to happen to him for the next 30 or 40 years.

Finally, especially during the after-care program, the team should administer a much more stringent system of checks and balances. If a player is really committed to staying clean, he should be willing to submit to more drug testing than is currently outlined. The Suns' experience with Walter Davis's relapse showed that as strong as the N.B.A.'s after-care program is, it needs to be reinforced by the direct involvement of the team.

It is my opinion, not shared by all, that mandatory, random testing, should be part of the N.B.A. anti-drug program. The intent of such suggested testing is not to serve as a means of ''catching'' a player, or to encroach upon his civil rights, but instead to serve as the ultimate deterrent. I believe that a player will take notice if he knows that his career could be in jeopardy.

If it takes mandatory, random testing to clean things up, so be it. Last year, our players resented the implications that they were all involved with drugs, and they came to me asking to be tested in order to prove that they were drug-free. A plan based on mandatory, random testing would remove all suspicion, all doubt, and make the N.B.A. totally drug-free.

There should be more compassion for the individual and a deeper respect for the grip of the drug problem as an illness. What should be the first priority, the person, the career or the team? In my opinion, it's the person. And it's here that the team, a player's extended family, can be of greatest help in confronting the problem.

If the team, the N.B.A. and the Players Association adopt a philosophy of putting the individal first - and the impact on team and career second - we'll continue to make progress toward elimination of drug abuse from basketball, and hopefully from all sports.

 

[myrondizzo]

sounds like cotton was alot like coach D. all this "fun" talk. all i remember about the the scandal was they traded my favorite player larry nance. Hornacek's wife was a substitute teacher man times have changed. Do you think that any of the sons significant others have a job?

 

[nathan]

The key for Phoenix was Kevin Johnson, who was stuck playing behind Mark Price. Fitzsimmons absolutely loved him, but there was a time he didn't think he'd ever get him - or any of the others they wanted.

"I went to see Cleveland play at Washington," Fitzsimmons recalls. "The Bullets jumped on them by 20-some. Then Kevin and these other guys came in and Cleveland came from behind and won the game. I called Jerry and said we wouldn't be able to make the deal. I said, 'Kevin came in and put on the afterburners. He showed too much. They'll never part with him.' "

But the Cavs had Price and they needed Nance to get to the next level. It was the ultimate deal that has enhanced both teams.

When the deal was made, unrestricted veteran free agency had yet to be approved. Once it was, the Suns had a game plan. "We picked out the man we wanted and planned accordingly," says Colangelo. The target was Seattle's Tom Chambers, a big-time forward with a reputation for selfish play. At 12:01 on July 5, the Suns called Chambers' agent, Howard Slusher. In very short order, Chambers became a Sun, and the team was in place.
"The point guard has always been my key," points out Fitzsimmons. "If I had the best center in the world, or a Dr. J or Larry Bird at forward, maybe I wouldn't say that. The first thing about Kevin is that I like his attitude. Yeah, we say that about everybody, but half the time it's b.s. But I really like his attitude. Secondly, aside from not being that tall (6 feet 1 inch), he is built like the perfect point guard. He's as quick, agile and explosive as any point guard in the NBA today."

The Suns are far from perfect. They are a classic "doughnut" team, well stocked at forward and guard, but weak in the middle. They're still learning to play team defense. But they can titillate a scoreboard with the best of them, and with Fitzsimmons' astonishing enthusiasm driving them, they're having more fun than they've ever had. They're winning a lot more than they're losing. They're on the way to setting a team attendance record. It's once again chic to be a Phoenix Sun.

This is pretty cool info and parallels what they did to form the current roster.

 

[HooverDam]

Thanks for the good info guys. I had always heard about the drug scandal but don't really remember it because I'm too young (born in 83). Very interesting stuff.

 

[sunsfn]

I followed this very closely back when it happened and it was a terrible thing that Maricopa County Attorney Tom Collins tried to do.
He wanted to make a big name for himself, and did whatever he could do to achieve that.

I lost a lot of respect for Walter Davis because he had a problem, and it hurt many other people more than him in the end.

This really says it all.
-------------------------------------------------
Much of the case was found to be based on rumors, gossip and hearsay. Drug tests administered to the Suns proved negative. No drugs were confiscated. No trials were held, and no jail time was served.
----------------------------------------------------------
It was a tough time to be a suns fan, because there were plenty of people at anyones work that would argue with you and say they were all bad people and how could anyone be a suns fan. The conversations at work were not about the suns, one of my favorite subjects.

It was happy times when JC bought the suns, because the major owners at that time were looking to get rid of them even if they had to sell them and move them out of town. (which a lot of people thought would happen)

By the way, for those of you who did not know about center Nick Vanos. He was going to be an excellent center for the suns for many years.
He signed with the suns and his contract was guaranteed, he was not playing good in his first year and their was talk of putting him on the IR and he would not play any more that year. But he had to agree with it and he did not want to do that so the suns were forced to play him occasionally. As the year went on, his game really started to come around. He started the last 10-20 games and played lots of minutes and the coaches were raving about him, and saying that after another training camp he was going to be an excellent player.
He was real young looking, apx. 6' 11 and could run the floor well and was a good offensive player..

 

[devilalum]

I was "dating" a girl at the time whos roommate was "dating" James Edwards. She said Edwards had a regular coke habit and she often did coke with him and other members of the team.

I always believed that the really juicy details were never printed because they couldn't be proven. There was a rumor at the time that a SUns player was supplying players all over the league with coke.

 

[devilalum]

I followed this very closely back when it happened and it was a terrible thing that Maricopa County Attorney Tom Collins tried to do.
He wanted to make a big name for himself, and did whatever he could do to achieve that.

I lost a lot of respect for Walter Davis because he had a problem, and it hurt many other people more than him in the end.

This really says it all.
-------------------------------------------------
Much of the case was found to be based on rumors, gossip and hearsay. Drug tests administered to the Suns proved negative. No drugs were confiscated. No trials were held, and no jail time was served.
----------------------------------------------------------
It was a tough time to be a suns fan, because there were plenty of people at anyones work that would argue with you and say they were all bad people and how could anyone be a suns fan. The conversations at work were not about the suns, one of my favorite subjects.

It was happy times when JC bought the suns, because the major owners at that time were looking to get rid of them even if they had to sell them and move them out of town. (which a lot of people thought would happen)

By the way, for those of you who did not know about center Nick Vanos. He was going to be an excellent center for the suns for many years.
He signed with the suns and his contract was guaranteed, he was not playing good in his first year and their was talk of putting him on the IR and he would not play any more that year. But he had to agree with it and he did not want to do that so the suns were forced to play him occasionally. As the year went on, his game really started to come around. He started the last 10-20 games and played lots of minutes and the coaches were raving about him, and saying that after another training camp he was going to be an excellent player.
He was real young looking, apx. 6' 11 and could run the floor well and was a good offensive player..

Yeah, Vanos was really coming into his own the year before the plane crash.

 

[Gaddabout]

Do yourself a favor and get to the library for a search of the Republic's archives for one name:

- Johnny High

The theory goes like this: former (and late) Suns guard Johnny High was suspected to hang out with drug dealers. Johnny High died in an early morning hour in a suspicious one-car crash in downtown Phoenix. Some Suns players, including High, hung out at a notorious druggie bar, in which at least one other former Suns player was suspected to have padded his bench-warming income by selling cocaine to other NBA players. One of those players was Phoenix icon Walter Davis, although it's said he never revealed who his dealer was.

Toss in a headline-loving county attorney and a reporter who recognized the red flags of High's strange death, and you have the right mixture for a bad public relations hurricane.