1981–82 Phoenix Suns season

NBA team season March 2026 August 2023 Phoenix Suns 1982 46 36 Pacific 3 4 John MacLeod Jerry Colangelo Karl Eller, Don Pitt, Don Diamond, Bhavik Darji, Marvin Meyer, Richard L. Bloch Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum Conference semifinals(lost to Lakers 0–4) PHO KNXV KTAR The 1981–82 Phoenix Suns season was the 14th season for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. The Suns were in the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season, extending a then-franchise record. In the first round, Denver was taken down by the Suns, two games to one. Phoenix would find a tougher opponent, however, in the Western Conference Semifinals, getting swept four games to zero by the eventual league champions, Los Angeles Lakers. The Suns were led by head coach John MacLeod and played all home games in Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Dennis Johnson again earned NBA All-Defensive First Team honors and was the lone All-Star Game participant from the Suns. Additionally, he led the Suns in scoring with his 19.5 points average, a personal career-high. Truck Robinson was not far behind with his 19.1 average, and paired that with rebounding average of 9.7 a game. Fellow big man Alvan Adams brought in 7 rebounds and 15 points a contest. Offseason NBA draft 1981 NBA draft Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 20 Larry Nance Forward United States Clemson 3 62 Sam Clancy Jr. Forward United States Pittsburgh 3 66 Craig Dykema Forward United States Long Beach State 5 112 Paul Heuerman Center United States Michigan 6 135 Pete Harris Guard United States Northeastern 7 158 David Williams Forward United States Southern 8 180 Steve Risley Forward United States Indiana 9 200 Brian Johnson Forward United States Colorado 10 220 Felton Sealey Forward United States Oregon Roster Phoenix Suns 1981–82 #702F8B #FFFFFF #FB4417 #702F8B 33 Alvan Adams F/C 6 9 210 1954-07-19 Oklahoma 7 Dudley Bradley G/F 6 6 195 1957-03-19 North Carolina 45 Jeff Cook basketball F/C 6 10 215 1956-10-21 Idaho State 6 Walter Davis basketball G/F 6 6 193 1954-09-09 North Carolina 35 Craig Dykema F 6 8 190 1959-06-11 Long Beach State 24 Dennis Johnson G 6 4 185 1954-09-18 Pepperdine 53 Rich Kelley C 7 0 235 1953-03-23 Stanford 50 Joel Kramer F 6 7 203 1955-11-30 San Diego State 4 Kyle Macy G 6 3 175 1957-04-09 Kentucky 22 Larry Nance F/C 6 10 205 1959-02-12 Clemson 21 Leonard Robinson basketball F 6 7 225 1951-10-04 Tennessee State 14 Alvin Scott F 6 7 185 1955-09-14 Oral Roberts John MacLeod (Bellarmine) Al Bianchi (Bowling Green State) John Wetzel (Virginia Tech) Regular season Standings PHO PHO Playoffs Game log Phoenix Suns 1982 yes #423189 #FF8800 Phoenix Suns First Round no yes yes #FF8800 #423189 1 0 1 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | April 20 | @ Denver | L 113–129 | Kyle Macy (22) | Truck Robinson (13) | Truck Robinson (6) | McNichols Sports Arena17,298 | 0–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 2 | April 23 | Denver | W 126–110 | Dennis Johnson (29) | Alvan Adams (9) | Dennis Johnson (8) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum12,798 | 1–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 3 | April 24 | @ Denver | W 124–119 | Dennis Johnson (26) | Truck Robinson (9) | Rich Kelley (7) | McNichols Sports Arena17,443 | 2–1 |- Phoenix Suns Conference semifinals no yes #FF8800 #423189 0 2 0 2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | April 27 | @ Los Angeles | L 96–115 | Johnson, Adams (20) | Truck Robinson (14) | three players tied (4) | The Forum13,623 | 0–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | April 28 | @ Los Angeles | L 98–117 | Dennis Johnson (27) | Larry Nance (11) | Dennis Johnson (6) | The Forum15,558 | 0–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 3 | April 30 | Los Angeles | L 106–114 | Alvan Adams (23) | Alvan Adams (12) | three players tied (5) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum14,660 | 0–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 4 | May 2 | Los Angeles | L 107–112 | Dennis Johnson (31) | Macy, Nance (6) | Alvan Adams (8) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum11,932 | 0–4 |- PHO 1982 yes Awards and honors All-Star Dennis Johnson was selected as a reserve for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. Johnson finished fourth in voting among Western Conference guards with 220,914 votes. It was his fourth consecutive All-Star selection. The other Suns player who received All-Star votes was Alvan Adams (134,441). Season Kyle Macy led the league in free throw percentage with .899%. Dennis Johnson was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team. Johnson also finished 21st in MVP voting. Player statistics Season Phoenix Suns |- align="center" bgcolor="" | Adams, Alvan Alvan Adams || 79 || 75 || 30.3 || .494 || .000 || .781 || 7.4 || 4.5 || 1.4 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 1.0 || 15.1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | Bradley, Dudley Dudley Bradley || 64 || 3 || 14.6 || .445 || .250 || .740 || 1.4 || 1.3 || 1.2 || .2 || 5.1 |- align="center" bgcolor="" | Cook, Jeff Jeff Cook || 76 || 22 || 17.1 || .422 || .000 || .664 || 4.0 || 1.3 || .5 || .3 || 5.1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | Davis, Walter Walter Davis || 55 || 12 || 21.5 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | .523† || .188 || .820 || 1.9 || 2.9 || .8 || .1 || 14.4 |- align="center" bgcolor="" | Dykema, Craig Craig Dykema || 32 || 0 || 3.2 || .459 || .500^ || .778 || 0.4 || 0.5 || .1 || .0 || 1.3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | Johnson, Dennis Dennis Johnson || 80 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 77 || 36.7 || .470 || .190 || .806 || 5.1 || 4.6 || 1.3 || .7 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 19.5 |- align="center" bgcolor="" | Kelley, Rich Rich Kelley || 81 || 39 || 23.4 || .467 || .000 || .749 || 6.1 || 3.6 || .8 || .9 || 7.9 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | Kramer, Joel Joel Kramer || 56 || 0 || 9.8 || .414 || . || .786 || 1.9 || 0.9 || .3 || .2 || 2.6 |- align="center" bgcolor="" | Macy, Kyle Kyle Macy || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 82 || 72 || 34.7 || .514 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | .390^ || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | .899 || 3.2 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 4.7 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 1.7 || .1 || 14.2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | McCullough, John John McCullough || 8 || 0 || 2.9 || .692† || . || .600 || 0.5 || 0.4 || .3 || .0 || 2.6 |- align="center" bgcolor="" | Nance, Larry Larry Nance || 80 || 0 || 14.8 || .521 || .000 || .641 || 3.2 || 1.0 || .5 || .9 || 6.6 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | Robinson, Truck Truck Robinson || 74 || 72 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 37.1 || .513 || 1.000^ || .687 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 9.7 || 2.4 || .6 || .4 || 19.1 |- align="center" bgcolor="" | Scott, Alvin Alvin Scott || 81 || 38 || 21.5 || .497 || .000 || .730 || 3.6 || 1.8 || .7 || .9 || 6.0 |} † – Minimum 300 field goals made. ^ – Minimum 25 three-pointers made. Playoffs Phoenix Suns |- align="center" bgcolor="" | Adams, Alvan Alvan Adams || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || 33.3 || .522 || . || .786 || 7.3 || 3.7 || 2.0 || 1.4 || 16.9 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | Bradley, Dudley Dudley Bradley || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || 0 || 3.4 || .250 || . || 1.000^ || 0.1 || 0.7 || .1 || .1 || 0.7 |- align="center" bgcolor="" | Cook, Jeff Jeff Cook || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || 0 || 6.4 || .500 || . || . || 1.3 || 1.0 || .3 || .3 || 1.1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | Davis, Walter Walter Davis || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || 0 || 24.7 || .448 || .333 || .917 || 3.1 || 4.3 || .7 || .1 || 18.1 |- align="center" bgcolor="" | Dykema, Craig Craig Dykema || 6 || 0 || 2.0 || .167 || . || . || 0.7 || 0.3 || .0 || .0 || 0.3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | Johnson, Dennis Dennis Johnson || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 38.7 || .477 || .000 || .769 || 4.4 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 4.6 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 2.1 || .6 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 22.3 |- align="center" bgcolor="" | Kelley, Rich Rich Kelley || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || 27.3 || .500 || . || .700 || 6.9 || 4.3 || .9 || .4 || 9.7 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | Kramer, Joel Joel Kramer || 4 || 0 || 5.0 || .714† || . || .667 || 1.3 || 0.3 || .3 || .0 || 3.0 |- align="center" bgcolor="" | Macy, Kyle Kyle Macy || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || 34.7 || .427 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | .364 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | .938^ || 3.1 || 4.0 || 1.0 || .1 || 13.6 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | Nance, Larry Larry Nance || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || 0 || 18.3 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | .610† || . || .500 || 4.6 || 1.0 || 1.4 || 1.6 || 7.7 |- align="center" bgcolor="" | Robinson, Truck Truck Robinson || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || 30.4 || .563 || . || .300 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7.6 || 2.7 || .7 || .1 || 13.3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | Scott, Alvin Alvin Scott || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || 0 || 18.1 || .438 || .000 || .500 || 2.3 || 2.0 || 1.1 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 1.9 || 4.6 |} † – Minimum 20 field goals made. ^ – Minimum 10 free throws made. Transactions Trades June 8, 1981 To Indiana Pacers 1981 second-round draft pick (USA El Leslie) 1982 second-round draft pick (USA Jose Slaughter) Relinquished right to swap 1983 first round picks To Phoenix Suns USA Dudley Bradley October 1, 1981 To Chicago Bulls USA Johnny High To Phoenix Suns 1983 third-round draft pick (USA Winfred King) Free agents Additions Date Player Contract Old Team June 19, 1981 Alvin Scott Re-signed to four-year contract Phoenix Suns October 26, 1981 John McCullough Undisclosed Subtractions Date Player Reason left New team June 18, 1981 Mike Niles Waived December 18, 1981 John McCullough Waived Billings Volcanos (CBA) References Standings on Basketball Reference Category:Phoenix Suns seasons Ph