Backup: Truck Robinson
Robinson joined the team in 1978 and brought to the crew the game of of great big men – one of the absolute best – playing for the Suns in the 70s.
Stretching into the early 1980s, ‘Truck’ Robinson, as he was known, was a big and tough power forward, the kind of inside presence that Jerry Colangelo loved to acquire for his roster. Aside from his 18.1 points and 9.5 rebound average in his three and a half seasons with the Suns, Truck helped to lead the franchise to regular season heights that they had never even came close to before. In his first two full seasons the Suns finished a combined 112-52, winning 57 games in 1980-81, a franchise record that stood until Charles Barkley’s first season in 1992-93.
Unfortunately for both he and the Suns, with the acquisition of a star in Truck Robinson came Championship expectations that were never accomplished. His relationship with the franchise soured and he was traded for Maurice Lucas in 1982 after a 46-36 regular season record and a 2-1 first round loss to the Denver Nuggets.