Did The Athletic get the Phoenix Suns’ ‘forever’ starting five correct?
By Adam Maynes
Shooting Guard
The Athletic’s forever shooting guard is Paul Westphal – and it is hard to think of anyone else.
Arguably the franchise’s best two-way player, Westphal was both the team’s best point guard and shooting guard in every season he was with the team. Setting multiple scoring and assists records (both season and career) while in Phoenix, Westphal would have been an elite 3-point shooter if he only played in the modern era where outside shooting is so heavily relied upon.
What’s more though is that Westphal ran with Dick Van Arsdale, Ron Lee, Don Buse, Kyle Macy and Walter Davis, regularly playing in what essentially amounted to two point guard systems that gave the backcourt significant freedom.
The franchise has successfully attempted the two point guard system on multiple occasions since, most recently with Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe, but it would work at it’s peak possibility when running next to all-time starting five point guard, Steve Nash.
Imagine Nash and Westy together, each above average facilitators and each deadly outside shooters.
The two would truly be unstoppable in this ‘forever’ starting-five and would absolutely be up there with some of the greatest all-time backcourts in history.
Westphal’s size (6’4″) and defensive ability (he averaged 1.8 steals per 36-min on his career) would be the perfect compliment to the slightly smaller and less defensively adept Nash while both player’s ability to drive and dish would set up an inordinate amount of open 3-point shots for not only each other, but the other outside shooters on the team.
Paul Westphal and Steve Nash would constitute one of the greatest backcourt’s of all-time, and for these reasons, Westy absolutely deserves a spot as the team’s all-time shooting guard.