1997–98 Phoenix Suns season

The 1997–98 Phoenix Suns season was the 30th season for the Phoenix Suns in the National Basketball Association. During the off-season, the Suns acquired Antonio McDyess from the Denver Nuggets in a three-team trade, and signed free agents Clifford Robinson, and George McCloud. The team also signed former Suns, and All-Star forward Tom Chambers, who played for the team from 1988 to 1993, and also appeared in the 1993 NBA Finals; however, he was out with a lower strained back injury before the regular season began. In November, Chambers got into trouble after punching Suns strength and conditioning coach Robin Pound during an altercation, and was soon traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Slovenian rookie forward Marko Milič; Chambers would play one game for the 76ers before retiring from the NBA in December.

In Danny Ainge's first full season as the team's head coach, and with the addition of McDyess and Robinson, the Suns won nine of their first eleven games of the regular season, which included a quadruple-overtime road win over the Portland Trail Blazers, 140–139 at the Rose Garden Arena on November 14, 1997. The Suns continued to play competitive basketball holding a 31–15 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team traded Cedric Ceballos to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for three-point specialist Dennis Scott. The Suns posted a 10-game winning streak between March and April, won eleven of their final twelve games of the season, and finished in third place in the Pacific Division with a 56–26 record; the team earned the fourth seed in the Western Conference, and qualified for the NBA playoffs for the tenth consecutive year.

The team's top scorer Rex Chapman led the Suns with 15.9 points per game, and 120 three-point field goals, while McDyess averaged 15.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game, and Robinson provided the team with 14.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. In addition, Jason Kidd contributed 11.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 9.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game, while sixth man Danny Manning averaged 13.5 points and 5.6 rebounds per game off the bench, and was named the NBA Sixth Man of the Year, and Kevin Johnson averaged 9.5 points and 4.9 assists per game, but only played just 50 games, starting in just 12 of them due to tendinitis in his right knee. Meanwhile, second-year guard Steve Nash provided with 9.1 points and 3.4 assists per game, McCloud contributed 7.2 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, Scott contributed 6.2 points per game in 29 games after the trade, Mark Bryant averaged 4.2 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, and Hot Rod Williams provided with 3.6 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, Kidd was selected for the 1998 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Western Conference All-Star team. Meanwhile, Nash participated in the inaugural NBA 2Ball Competition, along with Michele Timms of the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury. Kidd also finished tied in 13th place in Most Valuable Player voting, while Ainge finished tied in fifth place in Coach of the Year voting.

In the Western Conference First Round of the 1998 NBA playoffs, the Suns faced off against the 5th–seeded San Antonio Spurs, who were led by All-Star center David Robinson, All-Star forward and Rookie of the Year, Tim Duncan, and Avery Johnson. Despite both teams finishing with the same regular-season record, the Suns had home-court advantage in the series; however, the team was without Manning, who was out due to a season-ending knee injury. The Suns lost Game 1 to the Spurs at home, 102–96 at the America West Arena, but managed to win Game 2 at home, 108–101 to even the series. However, the Suns lost the next two games on the road, which included a Game 4 loss to the Spurs at the Alamodome, 99–80, thus losing the series in four games.

The Suns finished ninth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 779,943 at the America West Arena during the regular season. Following the season, McDyess re-signed as a free agent with his former team, the Denver Nuggets, while Kevin Johnson retired after eleven seasons in the NBA, but would make a comeback late during the 1999–2000 season, Nash was traded to the Dallas Mavericks, Williams signed as a free agent with the Mavericks, Scott signed with the New York Knicks, and Bryant was traded to the Chicago Bulls.