1993–94 Phoenix Suns season

The 1993–94 Phoenix Suns season was the 26th season for the Phoenix Suns in the National Basketball Association. During the off-season, the Suns signed free agents; A.C. Green, who won two NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980s, and also signed Joe Kleine.

With the addition of Green, the Suns got off to a 15–3 start to the regular season after a seven-game winning streak in December, and later on held a 31–15 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team signed free agent and second-year guard Elliot Perry. The Suns won their final seven games of the season, and finished in second place in the Pacific Division with a 56–26 record, earning the third seed in the Western Conference. The team qualified for the NBA playoffs for the sixth consecutive year.

Reigning MVP Charles Barkley averaged 21.6 points, 11.2 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game in 65 games, missing 17 due to a quadriceps tendon injury, while Kevin Johnson averaged 20.0 points, 9.5 assists and 1.9 steals per game. In addition, Cedric Ceballos showed improvement, averaging 19.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, but only appeared in 53 games due to a foot injury sustained during the preseason, while three-point specialist Dan Majerle contributed 16.5 points and 1.6 steals per game, and led the league with 192 three-point field goals, and Green provided the team with 14.7 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, second-year center Oliver Miller provided with 9.2 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game, Danny Ainge contributed 8.9 points per game off the bench, and Mark West averaged 4.7 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Barkley and Johnson were both selected for the 1994 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Western Conference All-Star team, although Barkley did not participate due to injury; it was the eighth All-Star selection for Barkley, and the third and final selection for Johnson. Both players were also named to the All-NBA Second Team at the end of the season, while Barkley finished in tenth place in Most Valuable Player voting, and Johnson finished in eleventh place.

In the Western Conference First Round of the 1994 NBA playoffs, the Suns faced off against the 6th–seeded Golden State Warriors, a team that featured All-Star guard Latrell Sprewell, Rookie of the Year, Chris Webber, and All-Star forward Chris Mullin. The Suns won the first two games over the Warriors at home at the America West Arena, before winning Game 3 on the road, 140–133 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena, in which Barkley scored a playoff career-high of 56 points; the Suns won the series over the Warriors in a three-game sweep.

In the Western Conference Semi-finals, the team faced off against the 2nd–seeded, and Midwest Division champion Houston Rockets, a team that featured All-Star center, Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Year, Hakeem Olajuwon, Otis Thorpe and Vernon Maxwell. The Suns took a 2–0 series lead, but then lost the next three games to the Rockets. The Suns won Game 6 at the America West Arena, 103–89 to even the series, but then lost Game 7 to the Rockets on the road, 104–94 at The Summit, thus losing in a hard-fought seven-game series. The Rockets would go on to defeat the New York Knicks in a full seven-game series in the 1994 NBA Finals, winning their first ever NBA championship in franchise history.

The Suns finished sixth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 779,952 at the America West Arena during the regular season. Following the season, Ceballos was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, and Miller signed as a free agent with the Detroit Pistons, while West was traded to the Pistons in exchange for a future draft pick.