Mike D'Antoni reveals which Suns team he coached was 'best in the league'

Former Phoenix Suns head coach Mike D’Antoni, among the latest Basketball Hall of Fame inductees, pulled back the curtain on the “Seven Seconds or Less” era he orchestrated that laid the groundwork for the modern NBA we see today. When reflecting on his teams, he made it clear that his 2004-05 team was the best, in his opinion.

D’Antoni felt first Suns team was the best in the league

“The first year I thought we were the best team in the league,” D’Antoni said during an appearance on the Suns After Dark podcast.

That team, of course, was the 2004-05 Suns that ushered in the "Run and Gun" era by bringing back eventual two-time MVP Steve Nash to run the point along with 3-point sniper Quentin Richardson via free agency.

The 2004-05 Suns won 62 games. At the time, that mark tied a franchise record for wins in a season set previously by the 1992-93 team led by MVP Charles Barkley under head coach Paul Westphal. That group eventually reached the NBA Finals but fell (as many did) to Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls.

That 62-win record was eclipsed by the 2021-22 Suns team that went 64-18 with a Chris Paul, Devin Booker backcourt along with NBA Ironman Mikal Bridges, who started all 82 regular season games.

But back to D’Antoni’s squad. The 62-win Suns had a stacked starting lineup of MVP Steve Nash, Quentin Richardson, Joe Johnson, Shawn Marion, and Amar’e Stoudemire. Nash, Marion, and Stoudemire were all named to the All-Star team that season and created arguably the most memorable All-Star Weekend ever for a Suns team.

In addition to having three All-Stars, Nash won that year’s Skills Challenge, Q won the 3-point contest, and Amar’e put on a show in the Slam Dunk contest, tagging in Nash for some truly unique slams that still hold up as highlights today.

That weekend of All-Star festivities, highlighted by the Suns’ starting five, exemplified the upbeat style they played with that laid the groundwork for the modern NBA — playing with pace and shooting far more 3-pointers than teams had done prior to the 2000s.

One injury hurt the Suns beyond belief

They eventually reached the Western Conference Finals, but as D’Antoni noted for Suns After Dark, Johnson suffered a fractured orbital bone on a scary fall during a dunk attempt the series prior against the Dallas Mavericks.

After starting all 82 games throughout a breakout year in which Johnson cashed 47.8 percent of his 3-pointers while averaging 17.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.0 steals per game, the eventual seven-time All-Star was sidelined for the first time that season.

“Joe Johnson was a big part of what we did,” D’Antoni said, praising his elite efficiency from beyond the arc. He also noted that Johnson would sometimes serve as the de facto point guard when Nash needed rest on the bench, while also defending the best opposing guards on defense to give Nash even more of a reprieve.

“He was an integral part of what we did,” D’Antoni said. “We missed Joe a lot.”

Phoenix was able to beat Dallas without Johnson thanks to the veteran Jim Jackson, who took his place in the starting lineup. However, Johnson missed the first two games of the Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs — both Suns losses.

Johnson gutted it out for Game 3 of that series, scoring 15 points on 6-of-14 shooting, but the Suns lost again to fall into a 0-3 series deficit.

The Johnson injury falls into the abundant category of Suns “what if”s, as we’ll never know if that year’s Suns squad could have defeated the Spurs with him fully healthy.

Instead, Johnson left Phoenix that summer in a sign-and-trade deal that sent him to the Atlanta Hawks, where he’d flourish as a No. 1 option.

The Suns were forced to retool the roster from there, and they never made it beyond the Western Conference Finals during the D'Antoni era.

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