1990–91 Phoenix Suns season

The 1990–91 Phoenix Suns season was the 23rd season for the Phoenix Suns in the National Basketball Association. For the season opener, the Suns traveled overseas to Japan to play their first two games of the regular season against the Utah Jazz at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, making history by being the two first teams in U.S. professional sports to play a regular season game outside of North America.

The Suns got off to an 8–7 start to the regular season in their first 15 games. In December, the team traded sixth man Eddie Johnson to the Seattle SuperSonics in exchange for All-Star forward Xavier McDaniel. The Suns posted a seven-game winning streak in December, then posted a six-game winning streak in January, and later on held a 30–16 record at the All-Star break. The Suns posted another seven-game winning streak in March, and finished in third place in the Pacific Division with a 55–27 record, earning the fourth seed in the Western Conference.

Kevin Johnson averaged 22.2 points, 10.1 assists and 2.1 steals per game, and was named to the All-NBA Second Team, while Tom Chambers averaged 19.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, and Jeff Hornacek provided the team with 16.9 points, 5.1 assists and 1.4 steals per game. In addition, McDaniel averaged 15.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in 66 games after the trade, and sixth man Dan Majerle contributed 13.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game off the bench, and was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. Also off the bench, second-round draft pick Cedric Ceballos contributed 8.2 points per game, while starting center Mark West averaged 7.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game, and also shot .647 in field-goal percentage, second-round draft pick Negele Knight contributed 5.3 points and 3.0 assists per game, and Andrew Lang provided with 4.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina, Chambers and Kevin Johnson were both selected for the 1991 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Western Conference All-Star team; it was Chambers' fourth and final All-Star appearance. Kevin Johnson also finished in seventh place in Most Valuable Player voting, while Majerle finished in second place in Sixth Man of the Year voting, behind Detlef Schrempf of the Indiana Pacers; Majerle finished with 37 first-place votes, while Schrempf had 38.

In the Western Conference First Round of the 1991 NBA playoffs, and for the second consecutive year, the Suns faced off against the 5th–seeded Jazz, who were led by the trio of All-Star forward Karl Malone, All-Star guard John Stockton, and Jeff Malone. The Suns suffered a Game 1 home loss to the Jazz by a 39-point margin, 129–90 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, but managed to win Game 2 at home, 102–92 to even the series. However, the Suns lost the next two games on the road, which included a Game 4 loss to the Jazz at the Delta Center, 101–93, thus losing the series in four games.

The Suns finished 18th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 589,591 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum during the regular season. Following the season, McDaniel was traded to the New York Knicks after only one season with the Suns.