Whether you like The Ringer's Bill Simmons or not, you have to admit some of his musings are both funny and thought provoking.
He also clearly doesn't watch as much basketball as he lets on, while his sweeping statements on teams and situations can be laughable. The Suns know all about that last part.
Suns proving "Ewing Theory" exists in The Valley
One of the most entertaining ideas Simmons has ever put out there goes back a long time, and it is called "The Ewing Theory".
If you're not familiar with it, basically Simmons has suggested that certain star players fall into this category, and that teams do better once they've either left town or are injured for an extended period of time.
The most famous example of this came from Patrick Ewing himself, who went down in the 1999 Eastern Conference Finals. Rather than lose the series to the Indiana Pacers, they advanced to the NBA Finals without him.
Before the season started, Bleacher Report projected the Suns to win just 26 games.
— Booker Muse (@DevinBookerMuse) January 21, 2026
They’ve already picked up win # 27, with 38 games still to go. pic.twitter.com/be0HnrT4pU
They couldn't get over the hump, but the point was still valid. The Knicks looked better without their star player for a crucial period of games.
Right now the Phoenix Suns are doing just that since Kevin Durant was traded to the Houston Rockets. They've already won 27 games, by the time they reached that point last season they had lost 32 times.
The vibes have been high in The Valley from the jump, while Devin Booker sure looked ecstatic to have Jalen Green back out there with him in the victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. He waited long enough.
Contrast that with the Rockets, and while they are winning games, they don't look like they're having nearly as much fun or playing as loosely as the Suns.
Part of the reason for that is the lack of expectations, Phoenix is playing with house money and has the fanbase back onside in a big way.
But there has been an obvious addition by subtraction here, with the offensive pecking order looking much more cohesive. Making Booker the star once more has also paid dividends.
Simmons will rightly get stick frequently for what he says, but the Suns have quickly become proof that "The Ewing Theory" is real. Ironic, considering he and Suns' owner Mat Ishbia had a brief war of words on social media prior to the season beginning.
When the Suns are trying to compete for real again then the script may yet flip again, but for now Simmons can point to them as an example of one of his greatest musings.