Meet the Phoenix Suns players who make the All-Twilight team

The Phoenix Suns are a proud NBA franchise.

The Suns debuted in 1968-69 and boast the fifth-best regular-season winning percentage of all time, behind only the Boston Celtics, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder.

A number of star players made their way to the desert during that time, including a few who established themselves as perennial All-Stars early in their careers but didn’t reach Phoenix until they were older when their skills and athleticism waned.

Chris Paul, who was unceremoniously let go by the Los Angeles Clippers during his farewell tour this year, is a good example.

The “Point God” was still at the top of his game in November 2020 when he was acquired via trade from OKC. That said, he was also in his mid-30s after putting up a quality Hall of Fame career with New Orleans, LA and Houston before reaching The Valley.

Paul is the latest example of an all-time great who played for the Suns later in his career. Players who established themselves as faces of the league with other teams before heading to Phoenix. That’s what we’re focusing on here.

We’re watching those guys as we build the Phoenix Suns All-Twilight team.

Here’s who makes the cut:

Chris Paul, point guard

CP3 was already a 10-time All-Star when the Suns acquired him starting in his 35th season.

Paul was still a big difference maker as a floor general at the time. He helped lead Phoenix to its first NBA Finals appearance since 1993 with Charles Barkley (whom they also acquired via trade) in 2021.

He made two more All-Star teams, as well as the All-NBA Second and All-NBA Third Teams during his short tenure with Phoenix.

His real decline happened after he was shipped to the Washington Wizards in the ill-fated Bradley Beal trade.

Paul’s time in the NBA may now be over, but the Suns have managed to put the best CP3 had left on the wrong side of 30.

Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway, shooting guard

Former No. 3 overall draft pick Penny Hardaway established himself as a budding star early in his career with the Orlando Magic.

He made his way to Phoenix at the age of 28, which doesn’t exactly qualify as “twilight years” even for a professional athlete. However, the circumstances surrounding Hardaway were different.

The Memphis product was popular to become an all-time great product. Hardaway, a 6-foot-1 point guard/shooting guard hybrid, was ahead of his time in size and elite skill. But injuries derailed Hardaway’s career.

Hardaway suffered a knee injury during the 1996 playoffs against the Detroit Pistons after colliding with Joe Dumars. Hardaway subsequently underwent microfracture surgery, a relatively new procedure at the time, later calling it “the worst decision I had made it in my life.”

Hardaway said he was never the same after the injury and struggled with constant pain.

After joining the Suns to form “Backcourt 2000” with Jason Kidd in Phoenix, Hardaway said he was constantly given cortisone injections in his knee in order to play. “Mentally I was no longer there,” he said. “I thought, ‘How can I overcome these knee injuries?'”

In an interview with Mike Philbrick of Grantlanddescribed the famous sports medicine physician Dr. James Andrews’s specific injury to Hardaway as follows:

“He had an articular cartilage injury, an injury to the smooth lining of the joint that allows the joint to slide. Back then we didn’t really have MRIs to diagnose it. Nowadays? Now you would see that on an MRI. It is still a nemesis and the most difficult thing to treat because the body has no way to regenerate it.”

Hardaway’s knee injuries remain among the biggest “what ifs” in NBA history. We can only wonder what he would have accomplished had he stayed healthy. He never made another All-Star team after leaving Orlando and played parts of five seasons in Phoenix.

Grant Hill and Vince Carter, small forward

Grant Hill – another former Orlando Magic player who immediately established himself as a star with the Detroit Pistons by winning Rookie of the Year, making five All-Star teams and earning multiple All-NBA nods – joins Hardaway on the roster.

Like Paul, Hill didn’t come to the Valley until he was 35. He had undergone multiple surgeries up to that point in his career for left ankle injuries, a surgery that even led to a life-threatening MRSA staph infection.

But Hill’s time in Phoenix is ​​remembered with more fondness than Hardaway’s. A crafty veteran at the time, Hill developed into a key role player alongside Steve Nash.

Despite the injury history, Hill played in at least 80 games in three of his five seasons in Phoenix.

As a Sun, Hill averaged 12.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game while making 49% of his field goals and 35.4% of his three-point attempts.

Not exactly the All-NBA talent he was in Detroit, but it’s still a solid few years from a class act that was a net positive in the Phoenix locker room.

An honorable mention is also in store for Vince Carter here. Arguably the greatest dunker in NBA history, VC was traded from the Orlando Magic to the Suns in a six-player trade during the 2010-2011 season at the age of 34.

Less than a year later, Carter was waived by the Suns. By the time he reached the desert, he was long removed from his eight All-Star appearances, but he did earn Sixth Man of the Year votes in Dallas and Memphis after his departure.

Maurice Lucas, power forward

Maurice Lucas was the leading scorer on the 1976-77 Portland Trail Blazers team, which won an NBA championship with Bill Walton.

Before reaching the Suns at age 30, Lucas had earned four All-Star nods, two All-Defense teams and an All-NBA Second Team selection to accompany his championship ring.