#2 The Sunderella Suns (1975-1976)
The best nickname on here (and the only name I didn’t make up), these Suns made it to the Finals after winning only 42 regular season games. They lost to the Boston Celtics – which if you didn’t know that, you probably wouldn’t be reading this- however, it might be a relief after reading that they had lost to the Lakers four times in a row prior to their Championship expulsion by the Celtics.
This was a legendary team. Led by Paul Westphal, Alvan Adams, and Gar Heard, they defeated a 59-win Golden State Warriors team in the Western Conference Finals – the defending Champions. They then went on to push the Celtics, who had already won 12 titles by this point, to six games. This included the triple-overtime game five, frequently referred to as “the greatest game ever played” in NBA history. The Suns would lose that game and the series, unfortunately, not able to overcome the Celtic juggernaut. However, the Sunderella Suns had endeared themselves to Arizona and basketball fans everywhere.
I would love the chance to relive any part of that experience (well, live it for the first time). Growing up, I always considered this team as the ultimate classic Suns team. I would also love to see NBA 2K add the 1975-76 Celtics team so we can match them up together.
Why wouldn’t they want to feature the teams who participated in the greatest game ever played? It would feature All-Stars such as Paul Westphal, Alvan Adams, and Dick Van Arsdale (though he was out of his prime), from the Suns, along with John Havlicek, Jo Jo White, Charlie Scott, Paul Silas, and Dave Cowens from the Celtics. It would also include Pat Riley, who played for the Suns, and Don Nelson, who played for the Celtics.
These teams had it all.