About

My name is Tom, and I’m a Phoenix Suns fan.

I first fell in love with the Suns back in 2007. I was preparing to go on a trip to Spain with my Year 9 classmates and, in need of some reading material for the short flight, I picked up a magazine. That magazine was SLAM #108, the cover adorned by three guys who, up to that point, held no significance to me. It was emblazoned with the title ‘The Big Bang: Amare, Nash & Marion are scorching the NBA’. From that feature on, I was hooked – Mike D’Antoni‘s Seven Seconds or Less Suns machine was my drug.

Though they made only scant appearances on the weekly NBA game Channel 5 would broadcast (which I would record religiously given how it aired at 1 AM on a Wednesday morning), I kept up with Phoenix’s progress through various means. Every morning I would catch their two minute game highlights on NBA.com, suffering through my family’s crappy dial-up internet connection (we were a tad late on the broadband bandwagon). I’d save SLAM stories. Later that summer, I would be outraged about Robert Horry‘s hip-check of Nash, the subsequent suspensions of Stoudemire and Boris Diaw effectively ending Phoenix’s playoff run. I still feel cheated.

And I’ve stuck with them ever since, through occasionally thick and mostly thin; the ill-fated trade of Marion for a decidedly past-his-prime Shaquille O’Neal; the brief Terry Porter era; the amazing, unexpected run to the Western Conference Finals under Alvin Gentry in 2010; Amar’e leaving; the inane signings (Michael Beasley anyone?) and mediocre years that followed, all whilst Nash’s pre-eminent talents faded away; the Jeff Hornacek/Goran Dragic feel-good story of last year. Everything. I couldn’t quit Phoenix if I tried at this point.

Naturally then, Mike D’Antoni’s mustache will be Suns-centric. They’re too large an influence in my NBA experience for  it to be otherwise. That’s not to say that I won’t write about other topics – I love the NBA as a whole, probably too much in fact, and enjoy all aspects of the league. Transactions, statistics, breakouts, incredible facial hair, you name it, I’ll probably cover it (in between writing my dissertation of course – Cuban Literature, if you cared). Hopefully you’ll enjoy it anyway.

My name is Tom, and I’m a Phoenix Suns fan.