It was 2003 and I was 14 years old spending a weekend at my grandma’s place. Let’s admit it – while we all love seeing our grandparents, their houses are never the most exciting places to hang out for prolonged periods. That is, unless you enjoy watching TV shows that make James Lipton‘s Inside the Actor’s Studio completely enthralling. So as an excuse to leave, my uncle used my desire to watch a meaningless Game 1 between the Suns and Spurs first round matchup to get out of the house.
After spending the majority of the game learning to play pool in a mostly-empty sports bar – I still can’t play a lick with confidence – the No. 8 seeded Suns looked doomed against the No. 1 seed and eventual champion Spurs; doomed because it wasn’t expected that they had a chance. Instead, it turned into an overtime thriller, the underdog Suns pulling off the upset on a miraculous Stephon Marbury buzzer beater. Of course, Phoenix would lose 4-2 in the series, but the game sticks in my memory as one of the most exciting in my 22-year-old memory bank. It was because, as a Suns fan, there wasn’t any inkling that Phoenix could pull off the upset of a series, let alone a single game. And as an teenager yet to be jaded by the idea that sports are just a game (not to mention the false hope strewn out through the years of following Arizona sports teams), it’s quite possible that one meaningless Game 1 will, in my mind, forever hold its place as the most memorable.
That was when Doris Burke was brunette and when David Robinson was still chugging along, but it’s more than my personal account that makes it possible to unearth dozens of storylines from this one game. Looking back, that meaningless game told us so much more about basketball.
The height of Starbury, the beginning of Tony Parker
The reason Phoenix had a chance to topple San Antonio was because Tony Parker was an unheralded 20-year-old from France, in his second season in the NBA and completely at Marbury’s mercy. In four regular season games, the Suns won the series 3-1 as Marbury torched Parker with averages of 32.5 points on 50 percent shooting and 8.8 assists.
That’s Derrick Rose digits in today’s world. Much of it was simply Marbury’s dominance in the 2002-03 season. He was an All-Star, a warrior and an underrated defender (I recall him going nearly punch-for-punch against Allen Iverson that season). But what defined Marbury as a player was that patented, New York-identifiable floater; his go-to move. That year, arguably his best in the league He had the swagger of Coney Island leading him to be The Man – he hit a number of game-winners spanning the year – on a squad that featured two guys who would later be The Man (Amar’e Stoudemire and Joe Johnson) and two others who were always damn close (Penny Hardaway and Shawn Marion). Oh, and he swiped the victory from the Spurs’ grasp in that epic Game 1.
Meanwhile, Marbury’s dominance on Parker was the last of its kind. During the regular season, Parker could only muster 10.3 points on 19 percent shooting to go with 5.5 dimes against the Suns. Parker survived the onslaught, however, and thereafter cemented himself into the NBA landscape with the Spurs’ eventual title. And is it of no coincidence that Parker’s career blossomed after that butt-kicking at the hands of Marbury? Making Marbury’s floater his own weapon, Parker ironically and repeatedly used it in destroying the Suns and Steve Nash time and time again following the Marbury years.
Timmy is Timmy, and Amar’e makes a name for himself
There was the best power forward in the league, Tim Duncan, going at some rookie. Hell, despite Amar’e Stoudemire winning the Rookie of the Year award over Yao Ming, we hadn’t yet learned how to pronounce his first name, and Amar’e himself hadn’t yet decided how to spell it.
A No. 9 pick out of high school, Stoudemire’s family background scared off everyone but the Suns, and Game 1 was that one moment when we all said STAT had arrived. What’d he have to show for it? 24 points, nine rebounds, two blocks, and a gutsy, awkward banked three-pointer with under 10 seconds to go in regulation to tie the game and give Phoenix life (skip to the 11:25 mark). That, coming against one of the greatest power forwards to play the game and eventual 2003 NBA Finals MVP.
Duncan’s legacy as champion repeated itself of course, and Stoudemire’s three-pointer was the hint that the guy who found success solely by attacking the rim could redefine his game to a degree, something especially important following his future knee surgeries that stripped him of some of his explosiveness.
The other guys
Look at the roster of your favorite team from the 2002-03 season. Now look at the Spurs roster from 2003. Sure, guys like Bruce Bowen have retired, but what does the year-after-year cohesiveness of the Spurs’ roster say about building championship basketball? With Stephen Jackson as the odd-ball of the group – I can’t imagine Gregg Popovich dealing with him in any sort of way – Parker, Duncan and Manu Ginobili still remain with the Spurs, a time capsule from last decade and further evidence that San Antonio knows how to run a championship-level organization.
For the Suns, it goes like this: Money-making machine Johnson was a scrub off the bench, sitting behind post-knee operated Hardaway. Marion was in his prime and the usual second-wheel. Bo Outlaw rocked the safety glasses and shined as the most awkwardly-moving human being to ever play the sport of basketball.
That Game 1 in the 2003 NBA Playoffs exemplified how quickly the present turns into the past, how players like Duncan can create a legend for themselves through years of remaining on top and how careers like Parker’s are made. It also showed the reality of the NBA, where injuries made Penny mortal, Stoudemire’s welcome alluded to a bright future. And after a few years of earning it by riding the pine, Johnson worked himself into making millions (too many if you ask, uh, anyone).
It also showed the two sides of basketball. The success of San Antonio acted as the polar opposite of the ensuing struggle of many of the Suns players from 2002-03, none of whom had more notable downfalls than the man once known as Starbury.
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