PHOTO: Sportskeeda.com
This content is taken from an article by John Volta for Bright Side of the Sun, translated into Italian by Marco Marchese for Around the Game.
The month of June has arrived, but as in 53 of the 56 years of life of Phoenix Sunsthe Arizona franchise did not take part in the NBA Finals. This is a period of reflection and calm, before the stormy advent of Draft NBA and of Free Agency, in which to meditate on nuanced objectives. The fans are eagerly awaiting the new season, which represents a new chance for redemption for the Suns. Redemption from what? From being a franchise that never really achieved its goal, making history with the victory of its 1st NBA Title. And here are the sliding doors to the past. Towards those moments in which a certain event occurred or a precise decision was made which then influenced the course of subsequent events. What would have happened if something had gone differently? And if a different decision had been made, what would the situation be now? The first memory accessed through these sliding doors dates back a long time. It’s Game 6 of the 1993 Western Conference Finals. That of the foot injury of Cedric Ceballos, whose presence could have altered the result of the 1993 NBA Finals and changed the general opinion on the Phoenix Suns since then – that is, of a franchise that has never won and always lost. Young fans back then were proud of those Suns, with many of them happy to wear the gadgets as a sign of honor despite the contemporary Showtime of the fans of the Los Angeles Lakers. What set those Suns apart? They knew how to win, of course. But losing also, and losing builds character. For young Suns fans, there hadn’t been much success to celebrate until then. The Suns had some interesting playoff runs in 1989 and 1990, but ended with a sweep by the Lakers in ’89 and, after beating them in the Conference Semi-Finals in 5 games, having lost in 6 matches against the Portland Trail Blazers to the Western Conference Finals in ’90. However, during that time the Suns gravitated towards Kevin Johnson, and had NBA title aspirations. The summer of 1992 was memorable: the Barcelona Olympics pushed basketball into a new era and dimension of media visibility. The Dream Team was truly what the story says. The faces of the greatest were depicted on the McDonald’s cups, and one of these was a member of the Phoenix Suns.
Mr Charles Barkley he represented his country – and a cup – in Spain, continuing his journey with the franchise. The Phoenix Suns of the 1992/93 Season were different from the past, for various reasons: their energy, the new arena and the new game uniforms. The franchise hit the NBA like a hurricane, winning 31 of its first 40 outings of the season. It was a fun team, with a physical game, but one that had a limit. Kevin Johnson acted as a facilitator, Thunder Dan he hit from the perimeter and Charles Barkley was an unstoppable talent. One of the most intriguing young stars on the roster was Cedric Ceballos, in his second year in the NBA. Ceballos appeared in 39 of those first 40 games, 20 of which were in the starting lineup. He averaged 10 points on 55.2% shooting, along with 4.1 rebounds. He was a fast, athletic player with an electrifying ability to finish at the rim. The previous year he had represented the Suns at Slam Dunk Competitionwinning it with his own Hocus Pocus blindfolded dunkperformed in front of the incredulous crowd at the Delta Center in Salt Laker City.
Ceballos was part of a second unit that kept the offensive threat high throughout the season. Richard Dumas, Oliver Miller, Tom Chambers, Danny Ainge, Frank Johnson; the Suns were virtually unstoppable. At the end of the season they had 62 victories, the franchise-high of that era. Only one thing could have stopped them: injuries. Cedric Ceballos injured his left foot before the All-Star Break during that season, but still continued to play.
“I had broken my foot. The doctors and coaching staff were waiting on what to do. The doctor said that he would break it again, saying that no matter how much rehabilitation and recovery can be done, sometimes the situation gets complicated, and that I could still try to play until he broke it.”
Cedric Ceballos in a 2003 interview
He finished the Regular Season playing 74 games with the Phoenix Suns, averaging 12.8 points and 5.5 rebounds. But his presence on the field was always uncertain, as a bad landing could fracture his foot and end Cedric’s season prematurely. The Suns’ 1993 postseason wasn’t easy at all. They fell behind 0-2 to the Lakers in a best-of-5 series, needing to win the next 3 games to advance. Nobody believed in Coach’s premonition Paul Westphalbefore the Suns managed to get through and face the San Antonio Spurs.
“We will win this series. We will win the next game, Tuesday, and then the next one, Thursday. We will win both at their home and at our home, and then play for the victory of the series next Sunday. And everyone will point out how spectacular this series was.”
Coach Paul Westphal
30 years ago today: With Phoenix down 0-2 to the Lakers in a best-of-5 series, Suns coach Paul Westphal guarantees his team will win the next three games and become the first NBA team to win an opening-round playoff series after losing its first two games at home.
May 2, 1993. pic.twitter.com/7ZRx6IGVNi
— NBA Cobwebs (@NBACobwebs) May 2, 2023
Phoenix won the next series in 6 games, earning a chance to challenge the Seattle SuperSonics to the Western Conference Finals. Up to that point, Ceballos hadn’t had an excellent postseason. After the first two series he averaged 3.9 points in 11.3 minutes of play. But in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals he received the trust of coach Westphal, who lined him up starting-five. Cedric put the leap in quality into practice: he scored 21 points, with 8/12 shooting, proving to be the scorer main of the game. After the match, Ceballos made these statements to the press.
“It’s all about timing. Paul was a good coach in managing who to take to the field and when. For a team of our caliber it may seem strange to get this far to the Playoffs, alternating so many players in various roles, but so far it has worked perfectly.”
Cedric Ceballos
He scored 21 points in 23 minutes of play. Why? Because he was forced to leave the pitch due to a foot injury. Coach Westphal would then start him again in Game 2, resulting in 10 points in 14 minutes. Game 3, which gave the Suns a 2-1 series lead following their victory, saw Cedric score 18 points off the bench on 5-of-11 shooting. After Game 4, Ceballos had already reached the end of his tank: the 4 points in 10 minutes of Game 4 were in fact followed by the 0 points in 3 minutes of Game 5. Instead, in Game 6 Ceballos had shown that he had recovered his determination. In the first 4 minutes of the game he had already scored 8 points, the result of 3/4 from the field, and then… “He just broke his foot.”. The winger landed badly after a jump, ending his season prematurely. And with his absence, one of the fundamental elements in the Suns’ rotations was missing. Phoenix lost that game, but won the series in the famous Game 7 – in which the Suns attempted 64 free throws, making 57, and won by a score of 123-110, reaching the 4th place in all-time attempts by free in the post-season. The next opponent would be Michael Jordan – and his Chicago Bulls. One of the biggest what if of NBA basketball history. Cedric Ceballos averaged 18 points and 5 rebounds against the Bulls in the 2 Regular Season games. The NBA Finals series, won by the Bulls in 6 matches, was very close. Both franchises finished with exactly 640 points.
Did you know: The Suns and the Bulls scored exactly 640 points each int he 1993 NBA Finals.
If only Ceballos were healthy. We’ll never know… pic.twitter.com/1caJh83Cn0
— John Win (@DarthWin) June 2, 2024
This sliding door is one of many in the history of the Phoenix Suns. It will never be known if Cedric Ceballos, a young and athletic winger, could have influenced and had an impact that could have changed the course of the NBA Finals.
“I don’t know if it was all already written and if it would have gone that way anyway. Was I the tipping point? We will never know.”
Cedric Ceballos
What is known is that the hearts of several Phoenix Suns fans were broken by that event. The chase for the title has been put in place, and the defeat is part of the baggage of experiences stored away. About 7 months later, the Valley was shocked by the Northridge Earthquake, forcing several families to move away from the Valley of the Sun, from the earthquakes, the heat and the related difficulties faced in Southern California. Michael Jordan would have decided on his first retirement, giving the Suns more hope of being able to win their 1st NBA Title. But 1994 has its own sliding door.
2024-06-04 22:42:31
#Phoenix #Suns #Cedric #Ceballos #foot #injury
