Tanks for nothing! Now let’s NEVER go through that again.

I know that being in the sixth to ninth spots in a Conference is essentially purgatory, but for the love of God – isn’t that better than what we went through yesterday?

Last season was a mess – an orchestrated, perfectly planned mess. And we were okay with it.

We were schmucks.

Suns fans the world over cheered for losses – even at home. We hoped for Los Angeles Lakers wins – EVEN AT HOME.

Suns players were upset. Fans were confused. And the basic balance of fandom, that which fans root undyingly for their home teams until the bitter end, was thrown completely out of whack.

And we did so willingly, all because of a false hope that the Phoenix Suns would land a top-3 spot in the NBA Draft and that for once  luck would be on the side of the Suns meaning losing would actually pay off in the end.

How foolish we look now.

I do not know if the NBA Draft Lottery is fixed, but boy, oh boy!  does it feel like it.

Which is why the Phoenix Suns should never  try to use it to their advantage.

Tequilla Herradura has been running an add with the catchphrase “Luck is Earned.” For the most part, the Phoenix Suns franchise has lived by this mantra and it has worked out fairly well for them. The team would stall out sitting in NBA purgatory for a couple of years, but would find the right group of stars to put together a series of successful seasons that will forever etch themselves in the minds of the fans.

They never tanked for the hope that they would steal a high-class star at the top, they earned  their luck by drafting Larry Nance 20th; Jay Humphries 13th; Jeff Hornacek 46th; Dan Majerle 14th; Cedric Ceballos 48th; Michael Finley 21st; Steve Nash 15th; Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire 9th; T.J. Warren 14th; Devin Booker 13th; and Tyler Ulis 34th – and I only went back to 1980.

By tanking last season the Suns got what they deserved. They didn’t try earning  their luck, they tried cheating  for it. They traded P.J. Tucker who was more loyal to the franchise than any other player in the last 20 years. They benched Tyson Chandler, Eric Bledsoe, and Brandon Knight much to their chagrin, alienating a significant portion of their veteran roster.

Sure they played their young players more offering them a little extra time to develop this season, but at what cost? Are they really ready now to be stars because of last season? Or will it still take another two years?

And now that we know the results of yesterday, did it really matter?

We may also never know what veterans Ryan McDonough might offer a little extra cash to this summer than another team, only to be shot down out of fear that they too will be benched at some point.

Is that really how the Suns want to be perceived by the very people who must  be employed to organize a competitive team?

This is not a way to be professional. This is not a way to run a franchise. But what’s worse is that this is not the way to build a fanbase. Phoenix Suns fans bought into the tank and with hopeful vigor. But those are fans who have already dedicated their lifelong fandom to the franchise, for better or worse.

How many kids live in the Valley of the Suns who over the past two years have been lost to other teams and may never return? In any ‘normal’ business this would be their death knell. But the Suns, oh, they know  better.

With all that in mind I’ve got one more phrase – Make your own luck.

Don’t expect it to come and find you.

Don’t expect ANYTHING  to come to us easily. Ryan McDonough needs to now face this offseason head on doing nothing more than selecting the best available player possible, making the right trades, and enticing the right free agents.

Then never  repeat 2016-17 again.

Losing on purpose is not a team’s savior and is something that Suns fans should never be asked to endure. Go win. Win as much as possible. And if it’s not good enough – find a way.

This is a blue collar city and a blue collar franchise. Luck will never be handed to any one of us. We all have to go and create  it.

The Phoenix Suns should stop making us fans accept losing.

I’s not good for you; It’s not good for us; It’s not good for anyone.