Marquese Chriss was a cancer – to the Phoenix Suns’ fanbase

There didn’t seem to be any complaints about Marquese Chriss from the players, coaches, or front office. And yet the former 8th overall pick for the Phoenix Suns was a cancer to the fanbase.

If you watch Valley of the Suns Live! weekly on Monday evenings at 6pm AZ time on Twitter, Periscope, and Facebook, you will know that I in particular had a love/hate relationship with Marquese Chriss. I loved when the Phoenix Suns traded up to draft him in 2016, but hated how his head got in the way of his own growth and the team’s success.

Yet even with his attitude, his pouting, and his bone-headed play on both offense and defense, the flashes he showed on occasion left enough wonder that I was happy with the knowledge that he would be on the roster in 2018-19 and wanted to see him grow.

Heck, the kid is still a kid.  He is barely 21-years-old, and I can tell you with all the certainty of the universe: I too would have struggled and suffered if I had entered into a high-stress professional position in the same year that I should have been a Sophomore in college.

My personal philosophy was that he deserved to continue to play and mature, that new coaching would help out with that, and that I would much rather see him fail  in Phoenix than succeed  elsewhere.

Now that he’s gone, my worst fears about Marquese Chriss may ring true.

If ever there was a team where he can succeed right away, with no pressure as a top-pick, with plenty of veteran talent ahead of him that will take the majority of the opponent’s blows, and with ample time to grow and learn the game on a winning team, Marquese Chriss is on it, and might actually be in a situation where he will succeed – and flourish – away from the Phoenix Suns.

And yet I – like seemingly the majority of the Phoenix Suns fanbase – am relieved to see him gone.

Even if he wasn’t a cancer in the locker room, he was a cancer in the fanbase.

His attitude rubbed blue collar fans the wrong way. His pouting made him seem far too childish, even for his age. His poor play – and regressed  play in his second year from his rookie campaign – left more wondering if he was closer to bust  than even salvageable.

Fans hated when he took a shot outside of five-feet. They hated when he was characteristically out of position on defense and yet still swiped at the ball, nine times out of ten slapping skin and receiving a foul.

They hated all of his complaining which would often take him out of plays – and then the subsequent technical fouls that took him out of games.

Too often Chriss seemed like he believed he was entitled,  like he had somehow earned the right to have calls made in his favor, and for referees to look the other way when he made a mistake.

At least for two seasons, Marquese Chriss didn’t look like he was ever going to help the Suns win and so for as long as he was on the roster, the team would forever be held down by his play and the way he carried himself on the court.

Nobody wanted Marquese Chriss to fail. Certainly not. If Chriss failed then the Suns failed and as diehards we root for the name on the front of the jersey not the back, so as long as Chriss succeeded  then the Phoenix Suns would too, making everybody involved happy.

But now, Chriss is gone. After two very unsuccessful seasons with the Suns, Chriss is now a Rocket and Suns fans can follow his game from afar, relieved in the knowledge that when he does poor that it wasn’t the franchise holding him back but just himself, and cringing when he succeeds, wondering what could have been if only he might have put his incredible athleticism to good use and found avenues to improve his game making himself a cornerstone piece of the roster.

Marquese Chriss may not have been a cancer in the locker room, but he was one in the fanbase. It’s sad, really, that his era in Phoenix is over so soon.

But now the franchise and it’s fans can look toward a hopefully brighter, and much more successful, future.