The Phoenix Suns lost to the Detroit Pistons in a game that featured yet another former player lighting them up in the scoring column.
Death. Taxes. And a former Phoenix Suns player lighting up his old team when he plays them. They are the inevitabilities of the world.
This rendition of a story we’ve seen play out a million times was courtesy of Brandon Knight.
First and foremost, I’m a huge Brandon Knight guy. Ever since he was tasked with the impossible job of following up John Wall at Kentucky and then led them to where John Wall didn’t, the Final Four, he’s always been a guy whose career I’ve followed.
The other part of Brandon Knight I admire is that he’s a really smart dude. Like, really, really smart. Like, he would never start a sentence with, “like,” especially not two in a row.
He had a 4.3 grade point average in High School and a 4.0 GPA in college. He is humble, meek, and will rip your heart out on a basketball court.
Despite all that, and playing well in his NBA career (after slipping in the draft), he has bounced around from team to team. It seems despite his talent, executives have found him expendable.
I can’t help but speculate–and this is pure speculation–that part of his inability to find a longterm home is the same reason there were rumors when he was in college that, despite being a model citizen, he didn’t really bond with his teammates well. I’ve always chalked it up to the playground truism, “No one likes the smart kid.”
Back when the Phoenix Suns were essentially Kentucky-West, Brandon Knight started and played great in the orange and purple. In 2015-2016 with the Suns, he averaged career-highs in nearly every statistical category, including 19.6 points per game.
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Then, unfortunately, injuries plagued him. He tore his ACL and then got in an infection post-surgery. You can tell he played for the Phoenix Suns due to his horrible luck.
You can also tell he played for the Phoenix Suns because when he donned another uniform and stepped back into Talking Stick Resort Arena Friday night, he turned into the 2016 version of himself and lit up the Suns.
In a game the Suns needed to feel any sort of hope moving forward, the Detroit Pistons upended their aspirations with a 113-111 win.
Brandon Knight played a big part in that, posting 19 points, the most he has scored in a game since December 26, 2016, when he was a member of the Phoenix Suns.
To keep the turn-back-the-clock theme going, Derrick Rose led the Detroit Pistons with 31 points, including several clutch baskets down the stretch.
Still, the Suns had a chance to win, but instead of attempting a last-second shot that would have been dramatic, Devin Booker went for the rare last-second attempt to draw a foul on a shot, which, even if you didn’t watch the game and even if I didn’t already tell you the outcome, you know how that transpired.
Book isn’t getting that call. The Phoenix Suns aren’t getting that call. Get that shot up.
The Suns now look to figure out how to beat an even worse team, the Golden State Warriors, at home once again.