1986–87 Phoenix Suns season

NBA team season March 2026 August 2023 Phoenix Suns 1987 36 46 pacific 5th 9th John MacLeod3 (22–34)Dick Van Arsdale (14–12) Jerry Colangelo Karl Eller, Don Pitt, Don Diamond, Bhavik Darji, Marvin Meyer, Richard L. Blochhttps://basketball.realgm.com/nba/teams/Phoenix-Suns/23/staff-members/Historical/player Phoenix Suns Staff & Executives - RealGM basketball.realgm.com Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum KNXV-TV KTAR Did not qualify PHO The 1986–87 Phoenix Suns season was the 18th season for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association and their final season under the original ownership group led by Karl Eller, Donald Pitt, Don Diamond, Bhavik Darji, Marvin Meyer, and Richard L. Bloch. The Suns started their fourteenth season under head coach John MacLeod. At 22 34 y in late February, management decided to replace the longstanding MacLeod with Dick Van Arsdale,https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Ol0pAAAAIBAJ&sjid=16UEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6306%2C7572042 Tuscaloosa News Alabama combined reports Van Arsdale chosen Phoenix head coach February 27, 1987 21 a former Suns player from the 1975–76 Finals team (coached by MacLeod), who was working as the team's color commentator for TV and radio at the time, despite having no prior coaching experience. Phoenix went 14 12 y in those last 26 games under Van Arsdale to finish at 36 46 y, and missed the 16-team playoffs by one game. All of the Suns' home games were played at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Walter Davis again led the Suns in scoring, averaging 23.6 points for the season. The Suns had another 20-point scorer in Larry Nance, who garnered a career-high 22.5 points and a team-high 8.7 rebounds a game. Third-year point guard Jay Humphries averaged 7.7 assists per game to go with 11.3 points per game. For the 32-year-old Davis, it was an All-Star season for him, his 6th in 10 seasons with the Suns, and would be the last time of his career he was honored as an All-Star. This season was notably infamous for being the key point where the Phoenix Suns organization was hit with a drug scandal that stayed behind the scenes until around the end of this season. On April 17, 1987, one day before the Suns would play their final game of the regular season against the Los Angeles Clippers, Maricopa County law enforcement officials revealed that five present at the time or former Suns players were indicted on drug-related charges, with six more present at the time or former Suns players being linked to the case by that time.Keteyian Armen DARK CLOUDS OVER SUN COUNTRY https://vault.si.com/vault/1987/04/27/dark-clouds-over-sun-country-the-biggest-drug-bust-ever-in-pro-sports-implicated-11-present-or-former-members-of-the-phoenix-suns https://web.archive.org/web/20200430043628/https://vault.si.com/vault/1987/04/27/dark-clouds-over-sun-country-the-biggest-drug-bust-ever-in-pro-sports-implicated-11-present-or-former-members-of-the-phoenix-suns dead April 30, 2020 2024-05-16 Sports Illustrated Vault SI.com en-us Despite the indictments, Jay Humphries and Grant Gondrezick were both allowed to play in the final game of the season while All-Star Walter Davis and rookie William Bedford were not allowed to do so despite their immunity from the case. 1987-04-18 3 SUNS PLAYERS ARE INDICTED IN DRUG INVESTIGATION https://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/18/sports/3-suns-players-are-indicted-in-drug-investigation.html 2024-05-16 The New York Times en-US 0362-4331Clippers vs Suns, April 18, 1987 https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/198704180PHO.html 2024-05-16 Basketball-Reference.com en The scandal would also involve a gambling case regarding a February 21, 1987 game between the Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks where at a nightclub called Malarkey's, James Edwards and two Bucks players named Jack Sikma and Paul Mokeski (according to Malarkey's manager James Jordan) allegedly claimed that the game between them would not exceed a total of 226 points scored (which was correct since it favored the Bucks 115–107 that night).Anderson Dave 1987-04-21 SPORTS OF THE TIMES; THE N.B.A. HOLDS ITS BREATH https://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/21/sports/sports-of-the-times-the-nba-holds-its-breath.html 2024-05-16 The New York Times en-US 0362-4331Bucks vs Suns, February 21, 1987 https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/198702210PHO.html 2024-05-16 Basketball-Reference.com en While the scandal would eventually end with no major punishments being involved for any of the players that were named in the case outside of Gondrezick serving three years of probation for tampering with a witness,http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1066773/2/index.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20121124214415/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1066773/2/index.htm dead November 24, 2012 After an off-season darkened by drugs and death, – 11.23.87 – SI Vault Sports Illustrated https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19871211&id=w3w1AAAAIBAJ&sjid=e-EDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1438,2714707 Last of the Suns' drug cases won't be pursued Eugene Register-Guard it would lead to a very hectic and uncertain offseason period for the Suns as they entered the upcoming season following this one. Offseason NBA draft 1986 NBA draft Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 6 William Bedford Center Memphis State 2 31 Joe Ward Guard Georgia 2 39 Rafael Addison Forward Syracuse 2 46 Jeff Hornacek Guard Iowa State 3 55 Kenny Gattison Forward Old Dominion 4 77 Grant Gondrezick Guard Pepperdine 5 101 Greg Spurling Center Carson–Newman 6 123 Jim McCaffrey Guard Holy Cross 7 147 Damon Goodwin Guard Dayton Roster Phoenix Suns 1986–87 33 Alvan Adams C 6 9 210 1954-07-19 Oklahoma 12 Rafael Addison F 6 7 215 1964-07-22 Syracuse 50 William Bedford basketball C 7 0 225 1963-12-14 Memphis yes 6 Walter Davis basketball G 6 6 193 1954-09-09 North Carolina 53 James Edwards basketball C 7 0 225 1955-11-22 Washington yes 44 Kenny Gattison F 6 8 225 1964-05-23 Old Dominion 3 Grant Gondrezick G 6 5 205 1963-01-19 Pepperdine 14 Jeff Hornacek G 6 3 190 1963-05-03 Iowa State 24 Jay Humphries G 6 3 185 1962-10-17 Colorado 22 Larry Nance F 6 10 205 1959-02-12 Clemson 54 Ed Pinckney F 6 9 195 1963-03-27 Villanova 11 Mike Sanders basketball G/F 6 6 210 1960-05-07 UCLA 7 Bernard Thompson G/F 6 6 210 1962-08-30 California State University, Fresno 30 Nick Vanos C 7 1 255 1963-04-13 Santa Clara Dick Van Arsdale (Indiana) John Wetzel (Virginia Tech) Regular season Standings PHO PHO Awards and honors All-Star Walter Davis was selected as a reserve for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. It was his sixth and final All-Star selection. The only other Suns player to receive All-Star votes this season was Larry Nance (314,193). Player statistics Season Phoenix Suns |- align="center" bgcolor="" | Adams, Alvan Alvan Adams || 68 || 40 || 24.9 || .503 || .000 || .788 || 5.0 || 3.3 || .9 || .5 || 11.1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | Addison, Rafael Rafael Addison || 62 || 12 || 11.5 || .441 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | .320 || .797 || 1.7 || 0.7 || .4 || .1 || 5.8 |- align="center" bgcolor="" | Bedford, William William Bedford || 50 || 18 || 19.6 || .397 || .000 || .581 || 4.9 || 1.1 || .4 || .7 || 6.7 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | Davis, Walter Walter Davis || 79 || 79 || 33.5 || .514 || .259 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | .862 || 3.1 || 4.6 || 1.2 || .1 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 23.6 |- align="center" bgcolor="" | Edwards, James James Edwards || 14 || 9 || 21.7 || .518 || . || .771 || 4.3 || 1.4 || .4 || .5 || 12.0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | Gattison, Kenny Kenny Gattison || 77 || 14 || 14.3 || .476 || .000 || .632 || 3.5 || 0.5 || .3 || .4 || 5.2 |- align="center" bgcolor="" | Gondrezick, Grant Grant Gondrezick || 64 || 1 || 13.1 || .450 || .235 || .701 || 1.7 || 1.3 || .4 || .1 || 5.5 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | Hornacek, Jeff Jeff Hornacek || 80 || 3 || 19.5 || .454 || .279 || .777 || 2.3 || 4.5 || .9 || .1 || 5.3 |- align="center" bgcolor="" | Humphries, Jay Jay Humphries || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 82 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 82 || 31.5 || .477 || .185 || .769 || 3.2 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7.7 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 1.4 || .1 || 11.3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | Nance, Larry Larry Nance || 69 || 67 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 37.2 || .551 || .200 || .773 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 8.7 || 3.4 || 1.2 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 2.1 || 22.5 |- align="center" bgcolor="" | Pinckney, Ed Ed Pinckney || 80 || 65 || 28.1 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | .584 || .000 || .739 || 7.3 || 1.5 || 1.1 || .7 || 10.5 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | Sanders, Mike Mike Sanders || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 82 || 4 || 20.2 || .494 || .118 || .781 || 3.3 || 1.5 || .7 || .3 || 10.5 |- align="center" bgcolor="" | Thompson, Bernard Bernard Thompson || 24 || 2 || 13.8 || .400 || .000 || .818 || 1.3 || 0.8 || .5 || .2 || 4.6 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | Vanos, Nick Nick Vanos || 57 || 14 || 11.2 || .411 || .000 || .644 || 3.2 || 0.8 || .3 || .4 || 2.9 |} Transactions Free agents Additions Date Player Contract Old Team October 1, 1986 Walter Davis Re-signed to 3-year contract Phoenix Suns Subtractions Date Player Reason left New team June 8, 1986 Rod Foster Waived (Retired) July 31, 1986 Rick Robey Free agent (Retired) August 13, 1986 Charles Pittman Free agent Pallacanestro Varese (Italy) August 20, 1986 Georgi Glouchkov Waived Mobilgirgi Caserta (Italy) October 23, 1986 Sedric Toney Waived New York Knicks October 28, 1986 Charles Jones Waived Portland Trail Blazers References External links Standings on Basketball Reference Category:Phoenix Suns seasons Phoenix