Should more than two Phoenix Suns squads have made SLAM's Top 75 best NBA teams of all-time list?

The Phoenix Suns have had great teams, including this year’s squad that won a franchise-record 64 games, but none have never brought home a championship.

So, it’s not surprising that none of them cracked the top 10 of SLAM Magazine’s Top 75 Best NBA Teams of All Time list.

The Suns didn’t even have a squad make top 40, but two did land on the list – the 2004-05 squad that reached the Western Conference finals and the 1992-93 squad that lost to Michael Jordan and the three-peat Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals.

“These Suns didn’t care much about defense, and they flamed out in the Western finals against San Antonio, despite having the NBA’s best record. But what a fun team to watch. Led by league MVP Steve Nash, Phoenix pushed the tempo feverishly and featured a talented collection of scorers. Nobody could dunk like Shawn Marion, unless it was Amar’e Stoudemire. Joe Johnson was deadly from three, and (Quentin) Richardson shot from everywhere. Good times.” – SLAM on the 2004-05 squad.

SLAM ranked the '04-05 squad 58th and the '92-93 team 71st.

Both teams shared the franchise record for wins in a single season at 62 before this season’s squad won two more.

“The Suns had reached the finals before, in 1976, but fell to Boston. This time would be different, even if they were facing the Bulls. Phoenix had the NBA’s best record, the league’s best offense and Charles Barkley, acquired from Philly in a blockbuster. The Suns were deep and fast and fun. But when they lost Game 4 of the finals to Chicago to fall behind 3-1, you knew it was over. And it was.” – SLAM on the 1992-93 squad.

What about the 2020-21 Suns?

Are those two teams ranked too low?

Should the Suns have more than just two teams ranked?

Should last season’s squad that lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in the finals have made it over the 1997-98 Indiana Pacers or 2011-12 Oklahoma City Thunder?

SLAM ranked those Pacers 75th and they didn’t even reach the NBA Finals. Indiana lost to the 1998 NBA champion Bulls in seven games in the Eastern Conference finals.

The Thunder, ranked 72nd, made a special run to the finals with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden before losing to the Miami Heat in five.

LeBron James finally got his first ring, but that 2011-12 Heat team (ranked 38th) didn't make SLAM’s Top 10.

1. 1995-96 Chicago Bulls.

2. 2016-17 Golden State Warriors.

3. 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers.

4. 1985-86 Boston Celtics.

5. 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks.

6. 1986-87 Los Angeles Lakers.

7. 1990-91 Chicago Bulls.

8. 1982-83 Philadelphia 76ers.

9. 2000-01 Los Angeles Lakers.

10. 2012-13 Miami Heat.

So, let’s look at the list from a different angle and see where teams that eliminated some the best Suns squads in the playoffs are ranked.

'Edging Barkley and the Suns'

1984-85 Los Angeles Lakers (Ranked 15th) – Swept Suns in 1985 first round. Won NBA title over Celtics in six.

1992-93 Chicago Bulls (Ranked 22nd) – Beat Suns in 1993 finals in six.

“The Lakers and Pistons had taken some of the magic out of title repeats by the time the Bulls won their second straight, but no team since the Celtics’ ‘60s dynasty had won three in a row. The Bulls felt like making history. The formula by now was familiar: Jordan average league-highs in points (32.6) and steals (2.8), Scottie Pippen was a terror on both ends and Chicago made the big plays when it mattered, edging Barkley and the Suns in the finals to seal with three-peat.” – SLAM on the '92-93 Bulls.

'Upset higher seeded opponents'

2006-07 San Antonio Spurs (Ranked 27th) – Beat Suns in the conference semifinals in six. Swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in finals.

1981-82 Los Angeles Lakers (Ranked 29th) – Swept Suns in 1982 conference finals. Won NBA title over the 76ers in six.

2004-05 San Antonio Spurs (Ranked 32nd) – Beat Suns in the conference finals in five. Won NBA title over Detroit Pistons in seven.

“The Spurs and Pistons came into the season having split the previous two NBA championships, and both upset higher-seeded opponents (the Suns and Heat, respectively) in the conference finals that spring. That set up a title bout that made up for a relative lack of star power with heavyweight intensity and dominant D. Five of the seven finals games ended with the losing team not breaking 80 points. The series ended with Tim Duncan securing his third ring.” – SLAM on the 04-05 Spurs.

'Without no asterisk'

1979-80 Los Angeles Lakers (Ranked 35th) – Beat Suns in 1980 conference semifinals in five. Won NBA title over the Philadelphia 76ers in six.

1999-2000 Los Angeles Lakers (Ranked 36th) – Beat Suns in the conference semifinals in five. Won NBA title over Indiana Pacers in six.

1993-94 Houston Rockets (Ranked 40th) – Beat Suns in conference semifinals in seven. Won NBA title over New York Knicks in seven.

“Go ahead and attribute Houston’s first title to Michael Jordan’s baseball flirtation. Others have done it, and it’s just wrong. The Rockets excelled at both ends of the court, had all-time great Hakeem Olajuwon and his Dream Shake in the middle and boasted a versatile lineup of fierce gamers like guards Kenny Smith and Vernon Maxwell and rugged Otis Thorpe. Houston outlasted the Knicks in a classic finals series and deserves a title without no asterisk.” – SLAM on the 93-94 Rockets.

'Down to one dude'

2002-03 San Antonio Spurs (Ranked 42nd) – Beat Suns in the first round in six. Won NBA title over New Jersey Nets in six.

1994-95 Houston Rockets (Ranked 44th) – Beat Suns in the conference semifinals in seven. Won NBA title over Orlando Magic in four.

2009-10 Los Angeles Lakers (Ranked 50th) – Beat Suns in the conference finals in six. Won NBA title over Celtics in seven.

2020-21 Milwaukee Bucks (Ranked 51st) – Beat Suns in finals in six.

“You can focus on the pandemic-shortened schedule, or the placement of Kevin Durant’s toe, but as time passes, what people will remember about the 20-21 season will mostly come down to one dude: Giannis. A two-time league MVP who still faced skeptics who said he couldn’t produce when it mattered most, Antetokounmpo did just that, first against KD and the Nets (31.9 ppg., 12.9 rpg.) in a seven-game Eastern Conference semifinals thriller, then even more impressively against the Suns (35.2, 13.2) in the finals.” – SLAM on the 2020-21 Bucks.

'End of an era'

1978-79 Seattle SuperSonics (Ranked 54th) – Beat Suns in 1979 conference finals in seven games. Won NBA title over the Washington Bullets in five.

1983-84 Los Angeles Lakers (Ranked 65th) – Beat Suns in 1984 conference finals in six. Lost NBA title to Celtics in seven.

1988-89 Los Angeles Lakers (Ranked 70th) – Swept Suns in 1989 conference finals. Lost NBA title to Detroit Pistons in four.

"There would be one more last gasp for Showtime, but this really felt like the end of an era. Sure, the Lakers won the Pacific, put up the most wins in the conference and reached the finals after posting a perfect 11-0 playoff record. But the usual suspects – Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Bryon Scott, Michael Cooper, etc. – were beat up by the same Detroit Pistons' Bad Boys they had defeated a year earlier." – SLAM on the 88-89 Lakers.

What about?

Real quick, the 1975-76 Celtics that topped the Suns in the finals aren’t ranked.

The 1989-90 Portland Trail Blazers that took down the Suns in the conference finals before losing to back-to-back NBA champion Detroit in five didn’t make the final cut, either.

Two years later, those 1991-92 Blazers eliminated the Suns in the conference semifinals. They fell to the Bulls in six games in the finals – and also aren’t ranked in SLAM’s Top 75.

A decade later, the 2005-06 Dallas Mavericks defeated the Suns in the conference finals before losing to the Miami Heat in the finals in six.

Those Mavericks fell short of the list, too.

Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Should more than two Phoenix Suns teams make SLAM's Top 75 NBA best?