Jeramie McPeek

No matter how hard you search, there's no precedent for what a continuous 50-year NBA career looks like. There's no blueprint. There's no roadmap. There's certainly no workout regimen.

The legendary radio and television voice of the Phoenix Suns is the first and only person to ever do it with a single NBA team. He long ago became the longest-tenured broadcaster for a team in NBA history, and in 2021-22 he reaches the remarkable 50-season milestone.

To those that know him, as well as the millions of sports fans across the great state of Arizona that have welcomed his voice into their homes for the last half-century, Al McCoy is, in essence, the Phoenix Suns. He was there with you for the highest of highs. He shared in your jubilance after the “Shot Heard 'Round the World” in 1976. He loved watching Charles Barkley and the boys take on Michael Jordan and the Bulls in the 1993 NBA Finals. He couldn't believe Rex Chapman forced overtime at the horn in the 1997 playoffs. He witnessed Seven Seconds or Less alongside us. You were sitting on pins and needles as he explained the rulebook to us last June when Crowder hit Ayton for the Valley-Oop.

Conversely, he checked into the Heartbreak Hotel on your same itinerary after the Suns couldn't pull it out in Boston in the third overtime in 1976. Yeah, he was there when Paxson did his thing. He saw Kobe Bryant make what felt like an endless amount of shots. For all our sakes, let's not dive too far into Robert Horry or the San Antonio Spurs, but let's just say he was sitting about four feet from the event that shall not be named.

For many people around the Grand Canyon state, McCoy has been the uniting factor that has helped bring this community together, through the good and the bad. Spending fifty years in any industry is nothing short of a Herculean undertaking, much less spending that length of time in the public eye. His voice and his passion for basketball and the Valley of the Sun permeates our homes 82 days a year, during which we join McCoy in indulging in the gift that is Phoenix Suns basketball. Through the ups and the downs, the thick and thin, the NBA Finals and the NBA Draft lottery, changes and triumph, there has always been a single constant: Al McCoy.

“Al loves the Suns and enjoys every minute of every broadcast,” said Jerry Colangelo, former Suns owner who was also coach and general manager during McCoy's tenure, and current Chairman of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. “Someone once told me that there are coaches that come and go, there are players that come and go, but announcers become the identity for a team. It's amazing the major contributions he's brought to the Phoenix Suns franchise. Why is he still doing this? He's still doing it because he loves it. He wouldn't rather be doing anything else. I thank him personally for helping build the Phoenix Suns franchise, because he was selling the Suns franchise all those years.”

How do you tell the story of the man who is synonymous with storytelling? Where do you begin to explain the history of a man whose impact and legacy across the Association somehow far exceeds the 50-year commitment he's dedicated to it?

Like any good story, it's best to start from the beginning.

McCoy grew up in Williams, Iowa, a small farming community a shade less than 100 miles north of Des Moines with a population of 307, according to the 2020 census. Growing up on a farm in rural Iowa in the 1940s meant a lot of things – namely growing up in a home without electricity – but none greater than establishing an unrivaled work ethic that remains with him to this day. While he lived without what we've come to consider some of life's most basic amenities, what he didn't lack were big city dreams. With his trusty handheld, battery-operated radio in tow, McCoy grew up idolizing Chicago Cubs baseball play-by-play broadcasters Jack Brickhouse, Bert Wilson and Harry Caray.

“We didn't have electricity, but we had a battery radio. I got hooked on radio very early as a kid and particularly listening to sporting events. Then it was mostly baseball. I followed the Cubs and college football at that point in time,” McCoy said in an interview with ABC15 in 2021. “That's where the so-called name announcers were, and I listened to all of them. Very early as a youngster, I thought, 'Boy that would be great. Wouldn't it be great to be at the Garden in New York and do games there, or Chicago Stadium?' not realizing that maybe I'd be there someday. But at an early age, I guess I got the bug.”

With the itch for the microphone instilled within him, McCoy began his broadcasting career in 1951 at KJFJ Radio in Webster City, Iowa, as a freshman at Drake University. Spending the next several years honing his craft, McCoy found his way west to Phoenix in 1958 to become the play-by-play voice for the Triple-A Phoenix Giants baseball team and the Phoenix Roadrunners minor league hockey club.

"Al loves the Suns and enjoys every minute of every broadcast”

- Jerry Colangelo, Former Phoenix Suns Owner

McCoy, despite finding success in the city's minor league sports scene for over a decade, always claimed basketball as his first love. It came as no surprise then in 1968 when Phoenix was awarded an NBA franchise that he knew he had to get involved. While he couldn't get his foot in the door right away, he was eventually able to get his demo tape in the hands of Jerry Colangelo. McCoy called a Suns game for the first time in a preseason game on September 27, 1972, and hasn't looked back since.

“It doesn't seem like that long ago when I met with Al and gave him the opportunity to get in with the Suns. He had some local appeal as he had done some Minor League Baseball and some hockey on the radio here in town.,” Colangelo said. “It was a brilliant move, not on my part, but on the part of people making recommendations on his behalf that he was a great play-by-play voice. He has developed into a Hall of Famer with how good his career has gone. I couldn't be happier for him as not only a talented broadcaster, but also as a Hall-of-Fame guy. He's represented this city and this state like very few people have. He's done an incredible job selling basketball in this city on behalf of the Phoenix Suns.”

During the 1975-76 season, just three years four seasons into his NBA broadcasting career, McCoy found himself on the national stage for the first time as the upstart Phoenix Suns, a team no one predicted would even be in the playoffs after posting a 42-40 record in the regular season, came alive in the NBA Playoffs. Phoenix was able to take down Seattle in six games in what was the first playoff series win in franchise history in the Western Conference Semifinals, followed by a seven-game series victory over top-seeded and reigning champion Golden State Warriors in the conference finals to secure a berth in the NBA Finals against the 12-time champion Boston Celtics.

“It was a unique team. They had quite a few injuries that slowed them down,” said McCoy. “Coach John MacLeod, who was a tremendous innovator and really had the ability to get a team ready to play, I thought was really responsible late in the season for firing up the team and setting a goal of making the playoffs, which they did. I think it was the biggest surprise in the history of the franchise, a team no one expected to go anywhere and at that point an NBA team that most people didn't even know about went to the NBA Finals.”

Little did anyone know that the “Sunderella” Suns would be part of one of the most memorable championship rounds in NBA History.  McCoy will forever be remembered for his call in Game 5 of that series at the Boston Garden when he had to fling an inebriated fan off his lap as he was describing “The Shot Heard 'Round the World,” by Suns forward Garfield Heard that sent the game into the third of three overtimes.

Al, of course, tells the story like no one else can. To this day, he still recounts Game 5 of the 1976 Finals as the most emotional game in the team's history.

“It was an unusually hot and humid day in Boston,” remembers McCoy. “There was no air conditioning in the Boston Garden. When I got to my broadcast location I saw that they had actually sold the seats right next to me. These four young guys came in, sat next to me with their big bags of beer, wine and chips and dip ready for a party.

“I did the game with these guys banging on my arm every time Boston had a very good play and of course when (Gar) Heard hit the 'Shot Heard 'Round the World' one of them passed out on my lap. You don't forget those nights too often. That was something unbelievable.”

"Someone once told me that there are coaches that come and go, there are players that come and go, but announcers become the identity for a team. It’s amazing the major contributions he’s brought to the Phoenix Suns franchise."

Despite losing the game in the third overtime and ultimately the series in the following game in Phoenix, the Suns had captured the heart of the city and paved the way for McCoy as one of the most legendary voices in sports history. As he continued to grow in his career, so came his confidence behind the microphone. Over time, he started to introduce nicknames and monikers for players, coaches and the game itself, further endearing himself with the fanbase.

“The way he came up with nicknames for players was amazing. 'Sweet D' for Walter Davis, 'Oklahoma Kid' for Alvan Adams and 'Kamikaze Kid' for Ronnie Lee, and the list goes on and on,” Colangelo said. “Al came up with all of that and it was all positive. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say a bad word about Al McCoy. He is very much loved by all the fans who have enjoyed him over the years.”

While McCoy has hit the airwaves with a number of classic catchphrases over the years such as “Zing go the Strings,” and “Heartbreak Hotel,” none have withstood the test of time and captured the attention of Arizonans quite like his signature call of “SHAZAM,” an homage to his childhood that has now become synonymous with Suns success. McCoy was able to add his go-to call to his repertoire just in time for the introduction of the three-point line for the 1979 season and has been a mainstay ever since.

“Most baseball announcers have a call they use, like, 'It might be! It could be! It is!' or 'It's going, going, gone!', so I started thinking,” said McCoy. “I don't like to admit this, but as a kid growing up as a farmer, I used to read comic books. And one of my favorites was Captain Marvel. And he was kind of the Superman type. And a little guy named Billy Batson who was actually a radio reporter, became Captain Marvel, when he said, SHAZAM, which was the first letter of Socrates, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Mercury, and so on. I thought, hey, that might be something because when he says SHAZAM, it's excitement and lightning and thunder and all this goes off. I decided I would use that thinking that maybe there'd be two or three a game. And, of course, that first year that the three-point shot was in I think the Suns took three all year.”

With his foot in the door, an NBA Finals appearance under his belt and a catchphrase in hand, McCoy had his career foundation in place for the decades that followed. He would use his platform to help bring the Phoenix Suns players, coaches and organization to new heights and further launch his Hall-of-Fame career.

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The Greatest Sun: Al McCoy

Devin Booker couldn’t even keep a straight face.

After a win that pulled the Suns within one victory of clinching the best first-half record in the West and sending the team’s coaching staff to Cleveland to coach Team LeBron in the NBA All-Star game, Booker tried his best to fake his surprise when a reporter brought up the standings.

“For real? We had no idea,” Booker squeaked out before letting loose into a full-on laugh.

Of course he knew. Everyone in the Suns’ locker room had been counting down the days until they locked in that honor for their coaches.

“Those are the little things that we want to celebrate throughout the season to get things done like that,” Booker said. “We know our main objective is to win a title and bring a championship here, but you can celebrate the little things that go into it, the day to day things, and getting our whole coaching staff in the All-Star Game is big time.”

This has been the Suns’ outlook from the start of this season. The way last year’s run ended not only intensified their hunger to dominate, it strengthened their desire to appreciate every moment throughout the marathon regular season. This weekend’s All-Star Game, where the coaching staff will join both Booker and Chris Paul as Phoenix’s representatives, is just the latest opportunity to do so.

The Suns went on to clinch the West’s best first-half record in their next game. As head coach Monty Williams celebrated the achievement for the first time in his career, the typically humble coach brought everyone into his moment, dishing praise back to his players.

“(The coaching staff) covers for me a ton. You guys cover for me a ton,” Williams said. “I don’t take that for granted. I know what it’s like in this league, I’ve been here for a long time. When you have a good group, you relish it.”

But beyond celebrating the team’s representation in Cleveland, the Suns see this as a stepping stone in their chase for a title. Williams often preaches the difference between short-term and long-term successes.

“Our goal is different, but we’ve got a mission,” said Williams. “I could sit here and say, ‘Oh it’s not a big deal,’ but you know what? That would diminish what you guys do every day.”

That mindset has been present in many of the big moments on the Suns’ calendar lately. It’s easy to see a conscious effort to lift one another up and come together in success.

As the Suns built a late lead on Minnesota a few weeks ago, Cam Johnson was on his way to a 20-plus point scoring night when he grabbed a rebound, turned his head, and dribbled up the court. With the Suns’ usual offensive rhythm now disrupted, Paul bounced up and down, calling for the ball. But Johnson confidently kept possession and took off. A couple dribbles later, he was into the teeth of the Timberwolves’ defense for a bucket at the rim, extending the Suns’ lead to two possessions.

Watching Johnson make a big-time highlight play after shaking him off, Paul had one thought: Shut up.

“I was trying to get it from Cam and then Cam went and got the and-one, so it works out like that sometimes,” Paul said postgame. “That’s just our team, we figure it out.”

Paul later joined Booker on the Western Conference All-Star roster, but when he heard that Johnson had not been named to the roster for the Three-Point Contest, he took the chance to remind anyone who would listen what Johnson meant to the team.

“You would think with our team being No. 1 in the league it would be nice to get some more representation from our team,” Paul said. “Not to take nothing away from the other guys. … He’s second in the league and he can’t get into the 3-point contest?”

When it was Johnson’s turn to address the snub, he took up the same tone, saying that while he would have appreciated the recognition of his season, his focus on the ultimate prize had not changed.

“What can you say, right? You just try to prove it on the court,” he said. “Of course I wanted to do it but just gotta keep grinding, keep getting better and keep making more I guess.”

Most recently, as the Suns surveyed the landscape ahead of the NBA trade deadline last week, they settled on the most familiar player available as their big addition. They struck a deal with Indiana to bring back fan favorite Torrey Craig, who made an instant impact in his debut with a team-high plus-21 in a win over the Magic.

“We think a lot about chemistry before we make any decision,” Williams said. “James (Jones) and I talk a lot. He’ll ask me my opinion on certain players and I try to help him as best I can, but chemistry is certainly a part of what we do.”

There was little doubt Craig would be a positive addition to the team’s chemistry after his arrival in Phoenix boosted the Suns significantly last season. It had to feel good, then, when Craig tied his Suns high in assists with four in his first game back in purple and orange, and got a massive, welcoming cheer from the Footprint Center crowd when he entered the game.

“I guess it’s that easy when you play the right way,” Craig said postgame, “when you got a bunch of guys that play together and play to a certain standard.”

While the close-knit Suns may have hoped to send Johnson and others to the All-Star festivities, another recent win streak has them happy with where they are as a team.

“Right now, we’re in a good groove as a team,” said Paul, “and we just want to stay that way.”

As for Williams, he finally allowed himself to think forward to Cleveland after a win on Thursday night to close out the first half with a franchise-best 48-10 record. He’s excited to bring his sons along and watch them enjoy being up-close with the best of the best in the NBA. And he’s looking forward to learning.

“I’m really grateful for this opportunity, I’m grateful for the players and how hard they’ve worked, the staff, the things that we’ve been able to do,” Williams said after the win over Houston. “It’s one of those things that I’ve never experienced before so I don’t have a level of excitement because I don’t know what to expect. I’m just glad that I get the chance to go.”

As promised, Williams was soaking in the moment. What started as a quiet push by his players ended exactly as they’d hoped, with the coach who shares so much in the joy of his own success getting a little back.

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RELISHING THE MOMENT

PHOENIX – After guiding the team to a league-best 13-1 record in the month of January, Phoenix Suns Head Coach Monty Williams has been named the Western Conference Coach of the Month for January 2022, the NBA announced today.

With Williams at the helm, the Suns hold the best record in the NBA at 41-9 this season, the team’s best start in franchise history through the first 50 games of a season. Phoenix completed the month on a 10-game winning streak and extended it to 11 with a win over Brooklyn on Feb. 1, the team’s second 10+ game winning streak this season, just the second time in franchise history the Suns have recorded two 10+ game winning streaks in a single season. Additionally, Phoenix completed the month of January with a perfect 8-0 record on the road becoming the first team in NBA history with multiple undefeated road records for a month (min. 8 games) and posted their second month of the season with a win percentage above .900 (16-0 record in Nov.), something no other team has done once on the year.

Ending the month of January with a 115-110 win over the Spurs on Jan. 30, Monty Williams and his coaching staff clinched a berth to Cleveland to coach Team LeBron in the 2022 NBA All-Star Game. It marks the first time Williams will coach in the NBA All-Star Game and is the fifth time in franchise history the Suns coaching staff will work the game.

This marks Williams’ fourth time winning Western Conference Coach of the Month and the second time this season, as he also won for October/November 2021 and March 2021 with the Suns and January 2011 while coaching the New Orleans Hornets, whose roster included current Suns point guard Chris Paul. Williams joins Alvin Gentry and Mike D’Antoni as the only Suns coaches to win it multiple times in the same season. He joins three-time winner Cotton Fitzsimmons (April 1989, February 1990, December 1991) and four-time winner Mike D’Antoni (December 2004, February 2006, December 2006, January 2007) as the only Suns coaches to win the monthly honor at least three times.

J.B. Bickerstaff of the Cleveland Cavaliers was named the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month.

Williams and the Suns look to extend their winning streak to a league-best 12 tomorrow night in Atlanta against the Hawks at 5:30 p.m. MT on TNT (listen on ESPN Phoenix 620 AM). The game tips-off a four-game road trip before returning to Phoenix for a four-game home stand ahead of NBA All-Star 2022 in Cleveland.

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MONTY WILLIAMS NAMED WESTERN CONFERENCE COACH OF THE MONTH

Jason Rowley is in his sixth season as president and CEO of the Men's National Basketball Association Phoenix Suns and the Women's NBA Phoenix Mercury. He also served in the Navy.

Rowley earned his bachelor's degree in 1994 from the University of Arizona and then joined the Navy. He considers his service to be some of the proudest and most formative years of his life.

He worked as an intelligence analyst with the Third Fleet until his honorable discharge in 1998. He then returned to the University of Arizona to pursue his law degree, graduating in 2001.

On Oct. 6, Rowley was interviewed by Hal Pittman, the director of the Defense Media Activity. Edited excerpts from that interview follow:

Enlisted sailors stand in formation in their service dress whites.

The reason Rowley said he joined the Navy was that his grandfathers served in the Navy during World War II, one in the Atlantic and the other in the Pacific theater of operations. They told him a lot of impressive stories, and Rowley saw how much it meant to them.

A military lesson Rowley said that translates to NBA team building is that it's important to be a good follower as well as a good leader, particularly in difficult and challenging circumstances.

"You've got to be willing to not know all the answers and certainly be willing to take feedback," he said.

Sailors do pull ups in the background as a recruit speaks to three men in khaki uniform.

Learn from failure, recover and keep doing your best, mentioning that in 1995, he failed the arduous training necessary to become a Navy SEAL.

"Sometimes you learn more from failure than you do from success," Rowley said. "Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I finished out my commitment in the Navy."

As for motivating people, Rowley thinks people need to first believe in the vision and in the organization while enjoying what they're doing. If that's the foundation that the team is built on, a good leader will have no trouble motivating them.

As president and CEO of the Phoenix Suns, Rowley is responsible for managing all business operations and oversees the club's interests in the management of Footprint Center, the WNBA Phoenix Mercury, the NBA Development League Northern Arizona Suns, the Legends Entertainment District, and affiliated entities. Rowley previously served as the team’s chief operating officer, as well as its senior vice president and general counsel.

Rowley began his career in 2001 with the law firm of Snell &amp; Wilmer in Phoenix, Arizona, and while there he represented the Suns' current ownership group in their acquisition of the club in 2004.

Not surprisingly, Rowley is involved in a number of charitable and civic organizations. He serves on Greater Phoenix Leadership, the ASU Walter Cronkite School of Journalism Endowment Board, the Thunderbirds, the Board of Phoenix Suns Charities, and the Board of Downtown Phoenix Inc. He also served as the 2015 American Heart Association Phoenix Heart Walk Chairman and was named the 2011 Phoenix Father of the Year by the Phoenix Father's Day Council.

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SPORTS HEROES WHO SERVED: NBA'S SUNS CEO SAYS NAVY SHAPED HIS CAREER

It was late February 2008 when Bonzi Wells boarded a plane to New Orleans to join the Western Conference-leading Hornets. He didn't know it then, but his NBA career was winding to a close. That spring would be his last in the league. He had seen winning, having made the playoffs every season of his career after starting it off with two conference finals appearances in Portland. But a few days into practice after the trade, Wells realized there was something going on along the banks of Lake Pontchartrain that he hadn't seen.

“I always used to call home, and I was calling I think after the third day of practice, just talking to my family and friends,” Wells remembers. “And I literally said, 'I think I've seen the baddest point guard I've ever seen with my own eyes.' I said, 'I've never seen a guy like this who gets it at the point guard spot.'”

The baddest point guard in question was a young, budding star named Chris Paul. Right away, Wells could tell that Paul was on another level as a teammate and as a leader. Once he observed the ways Paul elevated the players around him, it made all the sense in the world that the Hornets were atop the conference.

“He made all of us look better than we was, because he put all of us in position to be successful,” Wells says. “He takes the guesswork out of it for a lot of guys.”

That was Paul's first All-Star season. Nearly 15 years later, Paul is in the running for his 12th appearance, and the resume looks mighty similar. Despite the lowest scoring numbers of his career, Paul leads the NBA in assists and has been arguably the league's most efficient clutch player. What Wells saw when he got to New Orleans has only been honed in the decade-plus since, and while he's already beaten the odds by caring on a Hall of Fame career into his late 30s, the way Paul is getting it done is more or less the same as it's always been.

Coming off a sluggish loss in Boston earlier this month, the Suns acquired veteran center Bismack Biyombo to help replenish their big man depth while multiple players waited out the health and safety protocol. Biyombo hadn't appeared in an NBA game all season, and he didn't quite fit the mold of other Suns centers like Deandre Ayton, JaVale McGee or even Frank Kaminsky.

Without the luxury of bringing him on slowly, the Suns pulled Biyombo into the rotation the next day. It was like he never left the league. Biyombo answered with 11 points on 5-7 shooting to go with six rebounds, helping the Suns pull out a needed win against Biyombo's former team in Charlotte. Paul finished with 16 assists in the W. And since Biyombo signed with the team, five of his 11 made baskets have been assisted by Paul.

This is just the latest and most surprising example of something Paul has done in effectively every game since coming to the Valley. He makes everyone around him better. Learning that magic trick only took Paul a little while.

Bobby Jackson, a journeyman scoring guard and former NBA sixth man of the year, was also in New Orleans in the early days of Paul's career. Despite being a decade older, Jackson took to Paul right away, and the two became close as Paul matured into a superstar.

“He just kept getting better,” Jackson says. “He was like the second coming of a head coach, and he had that in his second year. A lot of guys don't have that. You can play your whole life in basketball and you don't have the feel of how to get your guys shots and put them in great situations.”

Paul's development came together in the 2007-08 season to the tune of 21 points, 12 assists and three steals per game as the Hornets swarmed to a 56-26 record. More than his own stats, what might paint the picture of Paul's impact that season is that big man David West also put up a career best season and made the All-Star team as well.

“My third year, I knew the game like the back of my hand,” Paul recently told The Athletic. “We went 56-26, (and) I made my first All-Star game with David West and Byron Scott.”

Notice that Paul again opens up the circle, including others in his accolades. The same can be said in 2022, with the Suns on pace for 64 wins and as many as four Suns players up for All-Star nods. And just as in those early New Orleans days, Paul is impacting the team off the court just as much as he is on it.

'He Will Give You the Shirt Off His Back'

Since being acquired two falls ago, Paul has kept in constant contact with teammates, even if health and safety rules have sometimes made it tough. He, Devin Booker and head coach Monty Williams share a text thread where they share intel from the NBA games they watch on off-nights. The team goes out for dinner often on the road, including a Thanksgiving celebration in New York City last year. And Paul is a constant presence at the team practice facility, taking players under his wing to show them his routine and even guiding youngsters like Ayton through personal film sessions when they need it.

When he was first blossoming as a leader with the Hornets, Paul's touch may have been lighter but his effect on the people around him was just as grand. “What really impressed me about him is when we was on the road, Chris used to start bible study,” Wells says. “This is a young guy in his third year, and he's leading bible study.” After the trade, Paul would also often invite Wells over for dinner from his private chef, introducing the Hornets newcomer to his family and giving Wells a place to be other than the hotel Wells he lived out of. Not yet married, Paul made a point of bringing even older players like Jackson over to family gatherings, where Jackson met Paul's parents and his brother, C.J.

“I would say he's more genuine than any superstar that I know,” Jackson says. “He takes the time to get to know you, he talks to a lot of people, and he's just an open book once you get to know him. He has allowed himself to become a megastar and play at a high level but also build people up the right way and support them, and he's a regular person.”

The prickly reputation that followed Paul for a time was there then, too, but only as a byproduct of being highly driven and competitive. Older teammates felt encouraged and challenged by him the same way the Hornets' young core group did. Players who came through New Orleans in those days came away with a greater feel for the game and a fire under them to translate it onto the court. For people like Wells and Jackson then or Booker today, the pushiness wasn't a negative but a positive, another indication that he just wanted the best for the guys in his corner.

“A lot of people don't know, he's probably an a-hole on the court and he demands perfection, but off the court, he's probably one of the nicest guys you will ever meet,” Jackson says. “He will give you the shirt off his back.”

As for Paul, he's not one for reminiscing. For someone so driven and who is still chasing the ultimate goal of a championship, forward is the only place to look. He says he isn't thinking about what another All-Star appearance would mean for him at age 37, and that it's not necessarily a goal for him. Instead, Paul is still putting on for the people around him.

Asked this week what the opportunity would mean for him to head to Cleveland as an All-Star, Paul gently deflected. He said he wasn't focused on his own February travel plans, but where Monty Williams and his staff would be spending the break.

“The only goal right now is to get our coaching staff there,” Paul said. “Real talk. That's the only goal, to get our coaching staff there. The way they done built this program here and us being right there on the cusp of it, we've got to do our part.”

The team with the best record in each conference sends its staff to coach the game. New Orleans head coach Byron Scott and his staff got that honor in 2008. Amidst another brilliant season, Paul is once again driven in a never-ending quest to elevate those around him, bring them into his greatness, and succeed together.

Vote for Chris Paul and your favorite Suns players by visiting Suns.com/SunsAllStar.

no-guesswork

NO GUESSWORK

Drive, shoot or pass in 0.5 seconds upon receiving the ball.

These are the basic tenants of Phoenix Suns head coach Monty William’s “0.5 offense” – a system that ushered in a new era of the franchise in 2019 and led the team to the NBA Finals last season.

The final principle, pass, was prevalent and crucial to the team’s success that was third in the NBA in total assists and assists per game.

And this season, it will impact well beyond the x’s and o’s as the team debuts an all-new partnership with Chick-fil-A to combat food insecurity and support Arizona communities.

Starting the 2021-22 NBA season that tips off with the Coca-Cola &amp; Fry’s Food Stores Tip Off on October 20, the Suns and Chick-fil-A will launch the “Valley Assist” program that will support local nonprofits with a donation from Phoenix Suns Charities and Chick-fil-A throughout the season as the team reaches total assist benchmarks during the regular season.

With a “we score” mentality, the Suns squad is eager to set each other up and ready to run it back in The Valley. And with the “.05 offense” in full effect, there will be plenty of opportunities for the Valley Assist program to help make the ultimate assist for those in need.

Suns fans can track progress of the Valley Assist program and stay up to date on the latest milestones by visiting Suns.com/ValleyAssist.

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PHOENIX SUNS AND CHICK-FIL-A LAUNCH “VALLEY ASSIST” PROGRAM TO COMBAT FOOD INSECURITY IN THE COMMUNITY

PHOENIX – The Phoenix Suns today acquired guard Landry Shamet from the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for guard Jevon Carter and the draft rights to Day’Ron Sharpe, the 29th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. 

Shamet (6-4, 190 pounds) has played three NBA seasons, appearing in the playoffs three times, and averaged a career-best 9.3 points for the Nets in 2020-21, including a career-high 30 points on April 18 at Miami. The 24-year-old has averaged 9.2 points per game on 41.6% shooting from the field, 39.7% from three-point range and 83.4% from the free throw line in 193 career regular season games (69 starts) with Philadelphia, the LA Clippers and Brooklyn. Shamet has totaled 407 career three-point makes as his 39.7% career mark from beyond the arc ranks 17th among all active players (min. 300 3PM).

A native of Kansas City, Missouri, Shamet played three seasons collegiately at Wichita State before Philadelphia selected him 26th overall in the 2018 NBA Draft. He earned NBA All-Rookie Second Team honors in 2018-19 as he split his rookie season with the 76ers (whose coaching staff included current Suns Head Coach Monty Williams) and the Clippers. Shamet has appeared in all 31 of his teams’ playoff games through his first three seasons, making 10 starts and averaging 5.3 points.

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SUNS ACQUIRE LANDRY SHAMET FROM BROOKLYN

The NBA today announced Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker as the winner of the 2020-21 Seasonlong NBA Cares Community Assist Award presented by Kaiser Permanente.  Booker, who is currently playing in the NBA Finals 2021 presented by YouTube TV, was selected by fans during a 12-day public voting period as well as by an NBA executive panel for his exceptional community outreach in the greater Phoenix area over the past several months. 

This season, Booker furthered his commitment to the Phoenix community, donating $500,000 to five Arizona community groups for their respective efforts to improve the lives of local youth and families through his Devin Booker Starting Five Initiative, which has committed a total of $2.5 million over the course of five years – $500,000 annually – to five different youth-serving nonprofits in Arizona.  Known as the second Starting Five class, Arizona Autism United, Central Arizona Shelter Services, YMCA of Southern Arizona, GAP Ministries and Elevate Phoenix each received a $100,000 grant from Booker to help address critical funding needs following the pandemic and support their respective efforts to improve the lives of local youth and families.  The first class — Special Olympics Arizona, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center, UMOM New Day Centers and Ability 360— received their $100,000 grants in late 2019.  

Throughout his career in Phoenix, Booker has also provided significant support to youth and families across the Valley through COVID-19 relief, holiday shopping sprees, serving as a guest coach for wheelchair and youth basketball programs and making annual visits to Phoenix Children’s Hospital.  In 2020, he was named a Special Olympics Global Ambassador, actively promoting inclusion through sport and continuing to participate in events with Special Olympics Arizona.  At the 2016 and 2017 NBA Draft Lottery, he selected deserving young athletes to accompany him as his guest. 

The Suns and NBA will recognize Booker prior to Game 2 of the NBA Finals 2021 presented by YouTube TV on Thursday, July 8 at 9:00 p.m. ET on ABC.  Additionally, the Devin Booker Starting Five Initiative through Phoenix Suns Charities will receive a $25,000 contribution from the NBA and Kaiser Permanente.

Each month of the regular season, the Community Assist Award recognizes a player who best reflects the passion that the league and NBA players share for supporting their communities.  The season-long award honors one of the monthly winners’ continued commitment to positively impacting his community through sustained efforts.  To learn more about the NBA Cares Community Assist Award presented by Kaiser Permanente, please visit https://communityassist.nba.com/.

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PHOENIX’S DEVIN BOOKER RECEIVES SEASONLONG NBA CARES COMMUNITY ASSIST AWARD PRESENTED BY KAISER PERMANENTE

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