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#4 Phoenix Suns (2004-2005)
2003-2004: 29-53
2004-2005: 62-20
The roster from the year before and the year of the turnaround were more or less similar, except for one key man Steve Nash. The Suns let go Stephon Marbury and Penny Hardaway in order to have the amount of cap space to bring in point guard Nash. The trick worked so well that his first two years with the Suns, Nash won two league MVP awards while Coach Mike D’Antoni and General Manager Bryan Colangelo won the awards in their respective categories at the end of the first season, the year of the turnaround.
Although Nash was the final piece to the puzzle, there were important pieces already present in Phoenix. Shawn Marion and Amar’e Stoudemire were the leaders among the rest of the players. Nash, Marion and Stoudemire all won the Western Conference Player of the Week at least once in the regular season. Among the rest Joe Johnson and Quentin Richardson were the notables.
Alas, a fairytale regular season did not result in a championship as the Suns were outsed by the San Antonio Spurs in the Conference Semifinals of the Playoffs.
