The Phoenix Suns are the centerpiece of the biggest what-if in NBA history
By Ryan Bawek
Re-Writing The 1970s in the NBA
The Phoenix Suns boasted more talent, especially in the backcourt, than the Bucks team that Jabbar joined as a rookie with two high-scoring studs in Goodrich and Van Arsdale (the Bucks got an aging Oscar Robertson in Kareem’s 2nd season).
With Kareem in tow, they never would have traded Hall of Fame and elite scoring guard Goodrich back to the Lakers in 1970 to acquire center Mel Counts.
Kareem would have had two highly-talented guards in their prime to play with.
They also signed another hall of fame player from the ABA in 1969 that could have formed an elite duo with Jabbar. You may have heard of him: Connie Hawkins.
Hawkins averaged 20.5 points, 9 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game in five seasons in Phoenix and was one of the first, if not the first, player who truly played above the rim and wowed fans with his jumping ability.
A pre-cursor to “Dr. J” Julius Erving’s and David Thompson who would change the way in which the game was played with their elite athleticism and verticality.
Imagine a starting lineup of Van Arsdale, Goodrich, Hawkins, Paul Silas (a bruising power forward who averaged a double-double in three seasons in Phoenix and would go on to be a successful NBA head coach) and Kareem!
That lineup features three NBA Hall of Famers (Kareem, Goodrich, Hawkins) and two other guys who would combine for five all-star appearances in their combined 28 seasons in the NBA.
In a decade in the 1970s in the NBA that is defined by declining play, poor TV ratings, drug problems, stiff competition from a competing league (the ABA) and parity, you are telling me that core couldn’t have won a handful of NBA championships?
It would have been much harder to envision Kareem wanting out in that scenario.
Let’s dive even deeper. Not only do the Suns’ chances to establish themselves as the team of the 1970s and the 2nd great NBA dynasty (the 60s Celtics were the first), they likely prevent the Lakers from becoming the team of the 1980s for a couple reasons.
The first is obvious, no trade for Kareem.
The second may be even more interesting. If the Suns never trade Goodrich back to the Lakers in 1970 and he doesn’t spend the prime of his career there before signing with the Jazz in 1976, they would have never have gotten Magic Johnson either.