12 days of X-Mas – Obscure stats in Suns history Day 8

I’m going to come right out and say it: I had a difficult time find a particular statistic or ranking in top-10 lists that worked well with the number of 8.

To come up with these 12 days of Christmas list of obscure or lost stats, I have sincerely scoured as much Phoenix Suns statistical information as I can possibly get my hands on, and found, what I feel are, interesting stats and information that is both obscure and that the average fan likely didn’t know.

Number 8 has thus far been the most difficult number to try and find information for.

So after some time searching and coming up with nothing special, I decided to look at uniform numbers and see if I could dig anything up that way – and I think I have.

Phoenix Suns

In trying to come up with something entirely specific to the number 8, I pulled up the list of those players in franchise history that have worn that number. I literally crossed my fingers hoping that there had only been eight players in Suns history to wear 8, in which case I was going to give a little bio about each player.

Alas, there have been 15 players to wear the number 8 so far, beginning with John McCullough in 1981-82 (I found it interesting that it took until the franchise’s 14th year before a player ever wore that number), through to Tyler Ulis who currently wears it today.

Of those 15 players, the most successful one to wear the number is Eddie Johnson, a fan favorite, current Suns color analyst on Fox Sports Arizona, co-host of a show in NBA Radio on Sirius XM, and the player with the distinction of scoring the most points in an NBA career to have never made an NBA All-Star Game.

The longest tenured player to wear number 8 is Channing Frye, who wore it from 2010-14, appearing in 304 games, even though he also missed the entire 2012-13 season with an enlarged heart.

In checking out the list, I decided that I wanted to briefly discuss two players in particular: John McCullough who wore it first, and then the player that wore it eighth.

Drafted by the Kansas City Kings with the 19th pick in the 4th round (85th overall) in the 1979 draft out of Oklahoma, McCullough was waived before the 79-80 season began. Phoenix would go on to sign and waive him three times over the next two seasons, appearing in (get this) 8 career games with the Suns in November and December 1981, his only appearances in the NBA. He was waived on December 18, 1981, and never donned an NBA uniform again.

Of those eight games McCullough appeared in, six of the first seven were in Suns blowout victories, five of which were by 22 or more points. He scored at least two points in the middle six games he player in, with a career-high 7 points in his second to last game, including three free throws.

His final game is somewhat infamous as, according to basketball-reference, but recordings  trillion statline. Don’t know what that is? Check it out right here.

McCullough finished his brief career with a 2.6ppg, .5reb, .4ast, .3stl, and a 69.2 FG%.

Today, McCullough is an Assistant Coach for the Portland Trailblazers and has been since 2016.

The eighth player to wear number eight for the Phoenix Suns is someone who had originally began with the franchise wearing number 25, and in his rookie year was a part of the 1992-93 team who made it all the way to the NBA Finals.

You guessed it: Oliver Miller.

Miller will forever be remembered for being an overweight center, a man who struggled for his entire career with on-going weight issues, although with incredible hands and court vision – his talent was never questioned. One of the best passing centers of all-time, Miller’s short height for a center, 6’9″, was never a hindrance as his size and surprising quickness for a player of his weight allowed him to play the position fairly decently, with his passing as a legitimate asset.

(Unfortunately, for some Suns fans he will also be known as the player the Suns selected in the 1992 NBA draft (22nd overall) ahead of Latrell Sprewell, who was chosen by the Golden State Warriors 24th overall. Spreewell would have been the perfect bench scorer for those Barkley years, and might have even been the built in air apparent to the team when Barkley’s tenure with Phoenix eventually ended. But I digress…)

Miller originally played for Phoenix for two seasons before signing as a free agent with the Detroit Pistons in 1994. In 1995 he was selected 27th overall (the final pick) in the expansion draft by the Toronto Raptors, where he played for one season. Bouncing back and forth between Toronto, Dallas, and Sacramento, prior to the 1999-00 season, he signed with the Suns, his second stint in Phoenix, this time donning number 8, versus his original – and probably most nostalgically familiar – 25.

That season was really nothing special for Miller. He averaged 21.3 minutes per game mainly off of the bench, starting in 9 games in December, performing relatively well overall, racking up 6.3 points and 5.1 rebounds on the year – decent stats for a backup center. For the sake of argument I checked out his per-36 stats, and at 10.7/8.6/2.3, that isn’t bad at all.

I had hoped that Miller’s eighth game that season, or his eighth start, would turn up something interesting or would by chance include a season or career-high in something, but no luck there.

Overall, Miller’s one year back with the Suns, this time wearing number 8, was mostly uneventful – although he did miss over a month from early February to mid-March as he struggled with weight issues, ballooning to a reported 340 points at his peak. He was asked to leave the team until he could get his weight under control, with a mandate of 325 before he would be allowed back.

He was away from the team throughout that period, and even out of state as he received counseling in Kansas. The situation was difficult for both Miller and the team, and his relationship with Head Coach Scott Skiles was tenuous at best.

Anecdotally, while Miller was away the team took their official photo so he is not memorialized with the rest of the 1999-00 roster.

Following the season, Miller’s one-year contract lapsed and he did not return to the Suns. He would play in Poland for one year, then in the CBA for two seasons, before returning to the NBA for the 2003-04 season where he latched onto the Minnesota Timberwolves, his final NBA games.

He wore number 3.

Next: 12 Days of Christmas: Obscure and Lost Stats in Suns History - Day 7

The complete list of players who have worn number 8 in Suns franchise history are as follows. Thanks to basketball-reference for the information: