Phoenix Suns: A Reincarnation of the '99-'02 Sacramento Kings

The Phoenix Suns...I knew there was something familiar about them, some aspect, something that tied them to another ballclub, a link to the past.

After months of backbreaking research, I've found it.

Eureka! They are the Sacramento Kings of the '99-'02 era.

Sac was one of the highest scoring offenses in the league, just like the Suns, and they were bad on the defensive side too. The similarities are just too hard to ignore.

First off, they were led by an out of control point guard, Jason Williams, who cared more about flash and style in his passes than accuracy and winning ball games, i.e. Steve Nash. 

They had a good three-point shooter and great perimeter defender in Doug Christie, now reincarnated as Raja Bell. Like Raja, Christie also was involved in physical confrontations with a Laker team member, Robert Horry. Bell's opponent in a Laker uniform was Kobe Bryant.

Peja Stojakovic played like both Shawn Marion and Grant Hill. Peja was a trigger-happy forward who would hoist a shot from anywhere on the floor in hopes it going in. Peja was also solid on the defensive end averaging 5.7 RPG.

Chris Webber, I mean Amare Stoudemire, had all the offense in the world but never developed a consistent defensive game and had to rely on help from others (Vlade Divac and Shawn Marion).

Last but not least, Vlade Divac (or Kurt Thomas) were two old, washed-up, stick in the mud oafs past their prime, who were only put in the paint as a decoy and kept on the team to be a puppet ordered to foul every time a big man came around in the playoffs (Shaq and Tim Duncan). 

Now for the bench: Bobby Jackson, a guard mostly concerned about scoring than anything else in his game, is being copied by Leandro Barbosa. However, both Leandro and Bobby were decent in the passing lane, averaging more than a steal in a season.

In all, both Jackson and Barbosa made great contributions as the sixth men that were monumental to their team's runs during the regular season and the playoffs.

Hedo Turkoglu and Boris Diaw's games are strangely similar too. Diaw and Turkoglu stretched the floor, focusing mostly on their midrange and nothing else.

Phoenix also had candidates for Most Valuable Player, Sixth Man, Coach of the Year, Most Improved, and All Defensive team all in the same year (Steve Nash, Boris Diaw, Mike D'Antoni, Boris Diaw, and Raja Bell). The Kings representatives for those awards were Chris Webber, Bobby Jackson, Rick Adelman, Hedo Turkoglu, and Doug Christie. 

Sadly, neither of these great teams ever made it past the Western Conference Finals. 

The Kings have moved on: Jason Williams in Miami, Turkoglu in Orlando, Peja Stojakovic and Bobby Jackson down south in New Orleans, Kurt Thomas up north in Seattle, Chris Webber in Golden State, and Vlade Divac and Doug Christie retired, the '99-'02 Kings are no longer.

The Suns may still have some of their same pieces, but they will continue to repeat their past performances in the playoffs until they realize that it all has been done before in the past.