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3-on-3 Debate: Suns Christmas Gifts

It's the season of giving, and the Suns.com crew has opened up a three-pack of purple-and-orange, gift-related questions. Matt Petersen, Greg Esposito and Ben York discuss a gift for the Suns, their favorite Suns-related gift when they were kids, and what Suns-themed present they still dream about finding under the tree.

1. Gift you'd give the Suns

Matt Petersen: D2: The Mighty Ducks. I like the movie for the parallels it offers for this year's Suns team. You have an already established core that plays well together, except they're joined by even more talent. There's a scene where, at first, that combination of old and new gets a little choppy. In response, Coach Bombay makes them do a drill where they're tied together forced to skate "as one."

The ridiculous drill helps. Issues still crop up from time to time. Playing time even rears it's ugly head (once with the talented-but-still-backup goalie, the other when Adam Banks comes back from injury and someone has to sit the gold medal game).

It's a feel-good movie about how all that stuff takes a back seat to winning, however. That and it's funny, ridiculous and iconic, and if you haven't seen it, there's a black hole in your heart only the Flying V can fill.

Greg Esposito: Right now I’d give the team a chemistry set. As the close games and last second finishes have indicated, this group is right on the cusp of being what last year’s team was. All it will take is a few small tweaks. They just need to recapture a little bit of that extra chemistry that happened last season.

As the alt-rock legends – OK, that’s strong – Semisonic taught us, it’s in fact all about chemistry. With Isaiah Thomas being the new guy and missing significant time in the first six weeks of the season the team hasn’t quite clicked. It’s coming. Hopefully it’s the team’s holiday gift to all of us.

Ben York: I’d basically just write them a heartfelt thank-you card.

Yeah, yeah…I know it sounds cheesy. And tired. And cliché.

But I’d thank them – and by ‘them’ I mean all Suns players – for the joy they’ve given me over the years. That is to say, they’ve basically changed my life for the better from the first time I watched a Suns game in 1988.

On a related note, I’m terrible at giving gifts so my default gift is always a card.

2. Best Suns gift you received as a kid

Matt Petersen: My first jersey: a home-white Kevin Johnson during the 1992-93 season. I always felt there was little coincidence that fan jersey sales really took off in the 1990s. Phoenix's new uniform design set a visual tone that couldn't be bought fast enough.

As for my jersey, I wore it so often and washed it in enough colored loads that it went from white to off-yellow within a couple years. Every Suns kid fan wanted to wear No. 7 back then.

Greg Esposito: Two fourth-row tickets to Suns vs. Nets when I was 12. The game happened to be the one where Charles Barkley scored is 20,000th point. I still have the ticket stub to this day.

It was one of those moments that instantly makes you a fan for life – although I had already purchased my lifetime membership during the 1992-93 run as nerdy nine-year-old – and it wouldn’t have happened without the gift of the tickets.

Ben York: I remember getting Kevin Johnson’s black Converse Run ‘N Slam kicks during the holidays and it was the greatest day of my life up to that point.

Our family couldn’t afford much during the holidays, but my mom made sure I got those shoes one year and I literally wore them to bed. And to my aunt’s wedding. And went over the intricacies of the kicks during my portion of a show-and-tell that nobody cared about.

Unfortunately, contrary to my belief at the time, they did NOT make my game on the court KJ-esque. 

3. Suns gift you really, really want today

Matt Petersen: Most throwback jerseys are associated with a specific season. This one has never been made, but a 1975-76 Alvan Adams jersey would be a sick get.

Adams' place as one of the best rookies of all time is lost on the general NBA public. If any rookie today averaged 19.0 points, 9.1 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.5 steals per game while leading his team to the Finals as a rookie, he'd be the most talked-about sports figure today.

Throwing those facts in the face of anyone with the temerity to ask "Whose jersey is that?" would be a constant source of awesomeness. Also, I love spreading Christmas cheer.

Greg Esposito: Since I’ve already crossed wearing the Trophy Guy costume off my list and no one can gift me a real Larry O’Brien trophy, I’d have to say an authentic Marko Milič purple jersey.

I’m sure everyone reading that just did a double-take. Even if you think the gift is crazy, I’m sure you probably remember when the Suns acquired him in the late 90s and footage of him dunking over a car  – yes, Blake Griffin wasn’t the first – made its rounds. That is part of the reason I want it. The other reason is because I collect obscure pieces of Suns history. I think it would go quite nicely next to my Hamed Haddadi No. 98 jersey (the highest number worn in team history).

Ben York: The white version of KJ’s Run ‘N Slam’s. I saw KJ wearing them during home games, and the way the purple and orange flowed seamlessly together with the white base and Velcro strap was magical.

I searched and searched, but I couldn’t find them anywhere. Obviously, I loved the black version, but I desperately wanted to complete my set with the white versions.

Come to think of it…I haven’t checked on eBay yet…