Posted: March 7, 2003
Suns great Alvan Adams shared his feelings with Suns.com about Thunder Dan joining him in the Suns' Ring of Honor.
Suns.com: What were your first thoughts when you heard the Suns had drafted Dan Majerle in the summer of 1988?
Alvan Adams: It reminded me a little of when I was drafted because when I was drafted I was somewhat of an unknown. I came out a year early and I know there was a little bit of a similar reaction. “Who? Wait a minute, who’s this guy? He’s not big enough to be a big guy.” So I thought of that and I said, “OK, I don’t know who Dan Majerle is either, I never heard of Central Michigan.” Now we all know who Central Michigan is and I think my highlight of watching the Suns after I finished playing was us beating the Lakers in that playoff series, the only time we’ve ever beat the Lakers in a playoff series and Dan was a big part of that.
Suns.com: What do you remember about Dan’s early days with the Suns?
Adams: What I remember early in his career were the slashes to the basket and I don’t remember what year it was that he dunked over Manute and got the bad offensive foul called against him. He was one of those guys that developed a second potent weapon halfway through his career and that was the three-pointer. The other big thing all of us remember was his defensive tenacity. You could put him on Mitch Richmond or Magic Johnson and you knew you were going to get one of the best defensive games of anybody in the NBA when you assigned him to somebody.
Suns.com: What did it mean to the organization to have Dan come back to finish off his career where it started?
Adams: When he went off to play in Miami that was a big disappointment to all Suns fans. It’s life in the NBA and he some great years there and to have him come back it made it all the more special. Here was one of the favorite players of all time coming back. He kept the presence here, kept the home here, the restaurant and was here a lot in the off-season.