1968–69 Phoenix Suns season

The 1968–69 Phoenix Suns season was the inaugural season for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. Head coach Red Kerr led the franchise to its first win in their debut game, over the Seattle SuperSonics. The Suns lost more games in their initial season than in any year since, and did not have a winning record against any other team. They played all their home games in the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

1968–69 Phoenix Suns season
Head coachJohnny "Red" Kerr
General managerJerry Colangelo
OwnersRichard Bloch
ArenaArizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record16–66 (.195)
PlaceDivision: 7th (Western)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
RadioKTAR

Dick Van Arsdale was the franchise's first All-Star selection when he was selected to play in the 1969 All-Star Game. He was the team's second leading scorer at 21 points per game, behind eventual Hall of Fame member Gail Goodrich, who averaged 23.8, the seventh-highest in the league for the season. Goodrich was selected to replace an injured Jerry West in the All-Star Game.

Offseason

NBA Expansion Draft
Player Position Nationality Former team
John Barnhill Guard  United States San Diego Rockets
Em Bryant Guard  United States New York Knicks
Gail Goodrich Guard  United States Los Angeles Lakers
Dennis Hamilton Forward  United States Los Angeles Lakers
Neil Johnson Forward  United States New York Knicks
Dave Lattin Forward  United States San Francisco Warriors
Paul Long Guard  United States Detroit Pistons
Stan McKenzie Forward  United States Baltimore Bullets
McCoy McLemore Forward  United States Chicago Bulls
Bill Melchionni Guard  United States Philadelphia 76ers
Dave Schellhase Guard  United States Chicago Bulls
Dick Snyder Guard  United States Atlanta Hawks
Craig Spitzer Center  United States Chicago Bulls
Bumper Tormohlen Center  United States Atlanta Hawks
Dick Van Arsdale Forward  United States New York Knicks
Roland West Guard  United States Baltimore Bullets
John Wetzel Forward  United States Los Angeles Lakers
George Wilson Center  United States Seattle SuperSonics

The Suns participated in the NBA's fourth expansion draft along with the Milwaukee Bucks, the other expansion team that joined the league in 1968. Each of the league's other 12 teams protected seven of their top players, with the remaining unprotected players available in the draft. The two expansion teams selected three players from each team, totaling 18 selections each.

The Suns received the first, fourth and fifth picks, while the Bucks, which had not yet chosen their team name at the time, received the second and third picks. The Suns' first selection was swingman Dick Van Arsdale of the New York Knicks. The Bucks then selected center Wayne Embry of the Boston Celtics, and power forward Fred Hetzel of the San Francisco Warriors. The Suns rounded out the top five by picking point guard Gail Goodrich of the Los Angeles Lakers and shooting guard Dick Snyder of the Atlanta Hawks.[1] "The Original Sun" Dick Van Arsdale would have a historic career with the Suns after being drafted, with him being an All-Star in his first three seasons with the team, as well as be named a member of the All-Defensive Second Team in 1974 and helping the team reach the 1976 NBA Finals before retiring in 1977, having his number become the second in franchise history to be retired into the Phoenix Suns Ring of Honor in the 1977–78 season, behind Connie Hawkins.

NBA Draft
Main article: 1968 NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 8 Gary Gregor Forward  United States South Carolina
2 22 Dick Cunningham Center  United States Murray State
3 36 Art Beatty Center  United States American
4 49 Rich Jones Forward  United States Memphis
5 64 Harry Hollines Guard  United States Denver
6 77 Rod Knowles Center  United States Davidson
7 92 Charles Parks Forward  United States Idaho State
8 105 Brian Clare Center  United States Denver
9 120 Mervin Jackson Guard  United States Utah
10 133 Lee Davis Center  United States North Carolina Central
11 147 Ron Boone Guard  United States Idaho State
12 160 Bill Davis Forward  United States Arizona
13 171 Pat Hobart Forward  United States California State

Roster
Phoenix Suns roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#Nat.NameHeightWeightDOB (Y-M-D)From
F/C 31 Fox, Jim 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1943–04–07 South Carolina
G 25 Goodrich, Gail 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1943–04–23 UCLA
F/C 44 Gregor, Gary 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1945–08–13 South Carolina
F/C 11 Johnson, Neil 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1943–04–17 Creighton
F/C 43 Lattin, Dave 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1943–12–23 UTEP
G/F 40 McKenzie, Stan 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1944–10–06 NYU
G/F 10 Snyder, Dick 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 207 lb (94 kg) 1944–02–01 Davidson
G/F 5 Van Arsdale, Dick 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1943–02–22 Indiana
G/F 23 Warlick, Bob 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1941–03–20 Pepperdine
Head coach
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Regular season

Standings
Western Division W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-Los Angeles Lakers 5527.671–32–921–182–030–10
x-Atlanta Hawks 4834.585728–1218–212–126–14
x-San Francisco Warriors 4141.5001422–1918–211–120–20
x-San Diego Rockets 3745.4511825–168–254–420–20
Chicago Bulls 3349.4022219–2112–252–319–21
Seattle SuperSonics 3052.3662518–186–296–515–23
Phoenix Suns 1666.1953911–264–281–128–30

Record vs. opponents
1968–69 NBA records
Team ATL BAL BOS CHI CIN DET LAL MIL NYK PHI PHO SDR SFW SEA
Atlanta —2–43–36–14–26–03–44–22–41–56–03–44–34–2
Baltimore 4–2—5–26–04–37–03–35–13–42–46–05–13–34–2
Boston 3–32–5—4–25–25–12–45–11–65–26–04–23–33–3
Chicago 1–60–62–4—1–53–33–45–12–41–54–23–34–34–3
Cincinnati 2–43–42–55–1—3–42–45–14–23–44–22–43–33–3
Detroit 0–60–71–53–34–3—3–32–43–43–44–23–32–44–2
Los Angeles 4–33–34–24–34–23–3—5–15–11–56–07–04–35–1
Milwaukee 2–41–51–51–51–54–21–5—0–60–66–24–23–33–5
New York 4–24–36–14–22–44–31–56–0—4–35–13–35–16–0
Philadelphia 5–14–22–55–14–34–35–16–03–4—5–14–22–46–0
Phoenix 0–60–60–62–42–42–40–62–61–51–5—1–72–43–3
San Diego 4–31–52–43–34–23–30–72–43–32–47–1—3–33–3
San Francisco 3–43–33–33–43–34–23–43–31–54–24–23–3—4–3
Seattle 2–42–43–33–43–32–41–55–30–60–63–33–33–4—

Game log
1968–69 game log
Total: 16–66 (Home: 12–29; Road: 4–37)
October: 4–3 (Home: 3–2; Road: 1–1)
November: 1–12 (Home: 1–5; Road: 0–7)
December: 3–15 (Home: 2–5; Road: 1–10)
January: 3–12 (Home: 3–6; Road: 0–6)
February: 3–14 (Home: 2–4; Road: 1–10)
March: 2–10 (Home: 1–7; Road: 1–3)
1968–69 schedule

Team-by-team results
Opponent Home Road Total All-time record Suns leading scorer Opp. leading scorer
Atlanta Hawks 0–3 0–3 0–6 0–6 (.000%) Bob Warlick (16.4) Zelmo Beaty (24.8)
Baltimore Bullets 0–3 0–3 0–6 0–6 (.000%) Dick Van Arsdale (31.0) Earl Monroe (26.8)
Boston Celtics 0–3 0–3 0–6 0–6 (.000%) Dick Van Arsdale (18.2) Bailey Howell (21.7)
Chicago Bulls 2–1 0–3 2–4 2–4 (.333%) Gail Goodrich (26.7) Bob Boozer (25.8)
Cincinnati Royals 1–2 1–2 2–4 2–4 (.333%) Gail Goodrich (28.0) Oscar Robertson (25.2)
Detroit Pistons 1–2 1–2 2–4 2–4 (.333%) Gail Goodrich (22.7) Dave DeBusschere (23.5)
Los Angeles Lakers 0–3 0–3 0–6 0–6 (.000%) Dick Van Arsdale (26.7) Wilt Chamberlain (31.2)
Milwaukee Bucks 2–2 0–4 2–6 2–6 (.250%) Dick Van Arsdale (23.9) Len Chappell (22.6)
New York Knicks 1–2 0–3 1–5 1–5 (.167%) Gail Goodrich (21.0) Willis Reed (27.3)
Philadelphia 76ers 1–2 0–3 1–5 1–5 (.167%) Dick Van Arsdale (20.2) Billy Cunningham (26.3)
San Diego Rockets 1–3 0–4 1–7 1–7 (.125%) Gail Goodrich (30.5) Elvin Hayes (31.6)
San Francisco Warriors 1–2 1–2 2–4 2–4 (.333%) Gail Goodrich (29.0) Nate Thurmond (24.8)
Seattle SuperSonics 2–1 1–2 3–3 3–3 (.500%) Gail Goodrich (23.8) Bob Rule (26.7)

Awards and honors

All-Star

Season
  • Gary Gregor was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.

Player statistics
Legend
  GP Games played  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game
 PPG  Points per game

Season
Player GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
Ed Biedenbach72.6.000.6670.30.40.6
Jim Fox*5138.8.470.73413.32.813.8
Gail Goodrich8140.0.411.7475.46.423.8
Gary Gregor8027.3.415.6498.91.211.1
Neil Johnson8016.5.481^.6215.01.75.8
Rod Knowles*85.0.286.3331.10.01.1
Dave Lattin6814.5.410.6344.80.76.0
Stan McKenzie (basketball)8019.6.427.763+3.11.59.3
McCoy McLemore*3122.9.385.773+5.41.611.8
Dick Snyder8126.0.472^.7254.02.612.1
Dick Van Arsdale8042.4.442.7056.94.821.0
Bob Warlick*6315.5.423.6062.42.18.0
George Wilson*4131.6.397.61612.31.911.6

* – Stats with the Suns.
^ – Minimum 230 field goals.
+ – Minimum 230 free throws.

Transactions

Trades
August 27, 1968
 To Boston Celtics
Em Bryant		 To Phoenix Suns
1969 second-round draft pick ( Gene Williams)
September 11, 1968
 To Atlanta Hawks
Dennis Hamilton		 To Phoenix Suns
1969 third-round draft pick ( Lloyd Kerr)
September 12, 1968
 To Milwaukee Bucks
Dick Cunningham		 To Phoenix Suns
1973 second-round draft pick ( Gary Melchionni)
Cash considerations
December 17, 1968
 To Detroit Pistons
McCoy McLemore		 To Phoenix Suns
Jim Fox
1969 third-round draft pick ( Lamar Green)
January 20, 1969
 To Philadelphia 76ers
George Wilson		 To Phoenix Suns
Jerry Chambers

Free agents
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