5. Neal Walk
Boy does this one hurt, even 46 years later. In the 1969 NBA Draft, the first two picks belonged to the team with the worst record in each division, with the two teams flipping a coin for the No. 1 pick. That year, it came down to the Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks for the No. 1 overall pick. The Suns loss that coin toss, and the Bucks drafted some guy named Lew Alcindor.
For the uninitiated, that Lew Alcindor guy was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who led the Bucks to a title in 1971 (and won the MVP Award that same year). And that’s only for the team that drafted him, since he won five more titles with the Los Angeles Lakers, six total MVP Awards and finished his career as the NBA’s all-time scoring leader.
Damn it Suns, tails never fails!
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wanted to play for the Suns. UGH http://bit.ly/ehEcHY
— Dan Bickley (@danbickley) April 4, 2011
That coin flip cost the Suns one or multiple titles simply by virtue of not getting Kareem, but this one gets worse. Phoenix used their No. 2 pick on Neal Walk, a 6’10” power forward from Florida who is still the school’s all-time leader in rebounds. But they had an opportunity to take Jo Jo White, who was selected ninth overall by the Boston Celtics.
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Walk wasn’t a terrible player by any means. He averaged 14.7 points and 8.9 rebounds per game in his time with the Suns, including career-bests of 20.2 points and 12.4 rebounds per game during the 1972-73 season; that’s why he’s not higher up this list. But he was no Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and he was traded to the New Orleans Jazz after five seasons.
But wait, this one gets even more brutal! Passing on Jo Jo White, a stud from Kansas and a future Hall of Famer, REALLY came back to haunt the Suns during the 1976 NBA Finals when he starred in what’s been called “the greatest game ever played.”
In that Game 5 of the ’76 Finals, White led the way for the Celtics with 33 points and nine assists, helping down the Suns in triple-overtime, 128-126. He won the NBA Finals MVP Award as the Celtics beat the Suns in six games to win the championship.
In 1969, the Phoenix Suns’ fortunes were changed forever by a single coin flip. Word to the wise: tails never fails.
Next: No. 4