1973–74 Phoenix Suns season

1973–74 Phoenix Suns season
Head coach	John MacLeod
General manager	Jerry Colangelo
Owner(s)	Richard Bloch
Arena	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record	30–52 (.366)
Place	Division: 4th (Pacific) Conference: 8th (Western)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Radio	KTAR

The 1973–74 Phoenix Suns season was the sixth for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. It was the first of 14 seasons head coach John MacLeod spent with Phoenix. The season would also be the last for former All-Star forward/center Connie Hawkins, traded to the Los Angeles Lakers after appearing in nine games for the Suns. Charlie Scott would repeat as an All-Star, but who missed 30 games due to injury despite his NBA career-high 25.4 points a game. The team went on to finish the season 30–52, a career-worst for MacLeod and the franchise's poorest record since their inaugural season.

Dick Van Arsdale averaged 17.8 points on the season, while Neal Walk averaged 16.8 points and a team-high 10.2 rebounds per contest. Keith Erickson, obtained by the Suns along with a future second round pick in the Hawkins trade, enjoyed a career-high 14.6 points a game in his ninth year in the NBA and first with Phoenix.

Van Arsdale was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team, while Mike Bantom, a rookie out of Saint Joseph's, was named to the All-Rookie Team.

Offseason

NBA Draft

Main article: 1973 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	8	Mike Bantom	Forward	United States	Saint Joseph's
2	33	Gary Melchionni	Guard	United States	Duke
3	42	Joe Reaves	Forward	United States	Bethel (Tennessee)
3	43	Steve Mitchell	Center	United States	Kansas State
4	60	Ron Robinson	Forward	United States	Memphis State
5	77	Clinton Harris	Forward	United States	Iowa State
6	94	Gene Doyle	Center	United States	Holy Cross
7	111	Jerry Bisbano	Guard	United States	Southwestern Louisiana
8	128	Jim Owens	Forward	United States	Arizona State
9	144	Sandy Smith	Guard	United States	Winston-Salem
10	158	Claude White	Guard	United States	Elmhurst
11	170	Lynn Greer	Guard	United States	Virginia State
12	179	Lyman Williamson	Forward	United States	Samford
13	186	Kalevi Sarkalahti	Forward	Finland	Brigham Young

Roster

Phoenix Suns roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Nat.	Name	Height	Weight	DOB (Y-M-D)	From
4.0 !F	40	USA !	Bantom, Mike	7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1951-12-03	Saint Joseph's
4.0 !F	20	USA !	Calhoun, Corky	7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1950-11-01	Pennsylvania
4.0 !F	24	USA !	Chamberlain, Bill	7000198120000000000♠6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	188 lb (85 kg)	1949-12-16	North Carolina
6.0 !C	31	USA !	Christian, Bob	7000208279999999999♠6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	255 lb (116 kg)	1946-05-11	Grambling State
2.5 !G/F	14	USA !	Erickson, Keith	7000195580000000000♠6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1944-04-19	UCLA
4.0 !F	16	USA !	Green, Lamar	7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1947-03-22	Morehead State
1.5 !G	11	USA !	Haskins, Clem	7000190500000000000♠6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1943-07-11	Western Kentucky
1.5 !G	25	USA !	Melchionni, Gary	7000187960000000000♠6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1951-01-19	Duke
2.5 !G/F	45	USA !	Owens, Jim	7000195580000000000♠6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1950-05-01	Arizona State
1.5 !G	33	USA !	Scott, Charlie	7000195580000000000♠6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1948-12-15	North Carolina
2.5 !G/F	5	USA !	Van Arsdale, Dick	7000195580000000000♠6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1943-02-22	Indiana
6.0 !C	41	USA !	Walk, Neal	7000208279999999999♠6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	1948-07-29	Florida

Head coach

John MacLeod (Bellarmine)

Assistant coach(es)

Dennis Price (Oklahoma)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended
Injured

Regular season

Standings

Pacific Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers	47	35	.573	–	30–11	17–24	–	14–12
Golden State Warriors	44	38	.537	3	23–18	20–20	1–0	15–11
Seattle SuperSonics	36	46	.439	11	22–19	14–27	–	12–14
Phoenix Suns	30	52	.366	17	24–17	6–34	0–1	11–15
Portland Trail Blazers	27	55	.329	20	22–19	5–34	0–2	13–13

#	Western Conference
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Milwaukee Bucks	59	23	.720	–
2	x-Chicago Bulls	54	28	.659	5
3	x-Detroit Pistons	52	30	.634	7
4	y-Los Angeles Lakers	47	35	.573	12

5	Golden State Warriors	44	38	.537	15
6	Seattle SuperSonics	36	46	.439	23
7	Kansas City–Omaha Kings	33	49	.402	26
8	Phoenix Suns	30	52	.366	29
9	Portland Trail Blazers	27	55	.329	32

Record vs. opponents

1973–74 NBA records
Team	ATL	BOS	BUF	CAP	CHI	CLE	DET	GSW	HOU	KCO	LAL	MIL	NYK	PHI	PHO	POR	SEA
Atlanta	—	1–5	2–4	4–4	1–3	4–3	0–4	1–3	5–2	1–3	4–0	1–3	1–5	3–3	1–3	2–2	4–0
Boston	5–1	—	5–2	2–4	2–2	4–2	3–1	3–1	4–2	3–1	2–2	2–2	5–2	7–1	3–1	4–0	2–2
Buffalo	4–2	2–5	—	3–3	1–3	5–1	1–3	1–3	4–2	2–2	0–4	1–3	4–4	6–1	3–1	3–1	2–2
Capital	4–4	4–2	3–3	—	1–3	6–1	2–2	3–1	4–3	3–1	2–2	1–3	3–3	4–2	2–2	3–1	2–2
Chicago	3–1	2–2	3–1	3–1	—	4–0	5–2	4–2	4–0	5–2	1–5	3–3	2–2	3–1	4–2	4–2	4–2
Cleveland	3–4	2–4	1–5	1–6	0–4	—	2–2	0–4	4–4	0–4	3–1	0–4	1–5	5–1	1–3	4–0	2–2
Detroit	4–0	1–3	3–1	2–2	2–5	2–2	—	5–1	3–1	4–2	4–2	3–4	1–3	2–2	6–0	5–1	5–1
Golden State	3–1	1–3	3–1	1–3	2–4	4–0	1–5	—	4–0	3–3	4–2	3–3	1–3	3–1	5–2	3–4	3–3
Houston	2–5	2–4	2–4	3–4	0–4	4–4	1–3	0–4	—	2–2	2–2	0–4	4–2	4–2	2–2	3–1	1–3
Kansas City-Omaha	3–1	1–3	2–2	1–3	2–5	4–0	2–4	3–3	2–2	—	1–5	0–7	1–3	1–3	4–2	4–2	2–4
Los Angeles	0–4	2–2	4–0	2–2	5–1	1–3	2–4	2–4	2–2	5–1	—	4–2	2–2	4–0	4–2	4–3	4–3
Milwaukee	3–1	2–2	3–1	3–1	3–3	4–0	4–3	3–3	4–0	7–0	2–4	—	2–2	4–0	5–1	6–0	4–2
New York	5–1	2–5	4–4	3–3	2–2	5–1	3–1	3–1	2–4	3–1	2–2	2–2	—	4–3	3–1	2–2	4–0
Philadelphia	3–3	1–7	1–6	2–4	1–3	1–5	2–2	1–3	2–4	3–1	0–4	0–4	3–4	—	3–1	2–2	0–4
Phoenix	3–1	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–4	3–1	0–6	2–5	2–2	2–4	2–4	1–5	1–3	1–3	—	3–3	4–3
Portland	2–2	0–4	1–3	1–3	2–4	0–4	1–5	4–3	1–3	2–4	3–4	0–6	2–2	2–2	3–3	—	3–3
Seattle	0–4	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–4	2–2	1–5	3–3	3–1	4–2	3–4	2–4	0–4	4–0	3–4	3–3	—

Game log

1973–74 game log
Total: 30–52 (Home: 24–17; Road: 6–35)

October: 2–8 (Home: 2–3; Road: 0–5)

November: 5–8 (Home: 3–1; Road: 2–7)

December: 8–8 (Home: 6–4; Road: 2–4)

January: 6–7 (Home: 5–3; Road: 1–4)

February: 4–12 (Home: 4–3; Road: 0–9)

March: 5–9 (Home: 4–3; Road: 1–6)

1973–74 season schedule

Awards and honors

All-Star

Charlie Scott was selected to replace Jerry West in the All-Star Game. It was his second consecutive All-Star selection.

Season

Dick Van Arsdale was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team.
Mike Bantom was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game
PPG	Points per game

Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Bantom, Mike !Mike Bantom	76	37	26.1	.399	.662	6.8	2.1	.7	.6	10.1
Calhoun, Corky !Corky Calhoun	77	54	28.7	.461	.760	5.3	1.8	.9	.4	8.2
Chamberlain, Bill !Bill Chamberlain	28	1	13.1	.438	.696	2.9	1.3	.7	.4	5.5
Christian, Bob !Bob Christian	81	1	15.4	.486	.702	4.2	1.2	.2	.4	4.8
Erickson, Keith !Keith Erickson*	66	48	30.8	.477	.801	6.3	3.1	1.0	.3	14.6
Green, Lamar !Lamar Green	72	20	15.3	.407	.559	4.9	0.6	.4	.5	4.1
Haskins, Clem !Clem Haskins	81	20	22.5	.460	.842	2.7	3.2	1.0	.2	11.1
Hawkins, Connie !Connie Hawkins*	8	7	27.9	.486	.667	5.4	3.5	1.0	.4	11.3
Melchionni, Gary !Gary Melchionni	69	15	18.1	.460	.860^	2.1	2.1	.6	.1	7.2
Owens, JimJim Owens	17	0	5.9	.538†	.786	0.5	0.9	.3	.0	3.1
Reaves, Joe !Joe Reaves*	7	0	5.4	.545†	.364	1.1	0.1	.0	.3	2.3
Scott, Charlie !Charlie Scott	52	51	38.5+	.459	.781	4.3	5.2+	1.9+	.4	25.4+
Van Arsdale, Dick !Dick Van Arsdale	78	76	36.3+	.500†	.853^	2.8	4.2+	1.2+	.2	17.8+
Walk, Neal !Neal Walk	82	80	31.1	.460	.791	10.2	4.0	.9	.7	16.8

* – Stats with the Suns.
† – Minimum 560 field goal attempts.
^ – Minimum 160 free throw attempts.
+ – Minimum 70 games played.

Transactions

Trades

October 8, 1973	To Atlanta Hawks---- 1976 second-round draft pick ( Bob Carrington) 1977 third-round draft pick ( Eddie Johnson)	To Phoenix Suns---- Bob Christian
October 9, 1973	To Capital Bullets---- Walt Wesley	To Phoenix Suns---- 1974 third-round draft pick ( Earl Williams) 1975 third-round draft pick ( Bayard Forrest)
October 30, 1973	To Los Angeles Lakers---- Connie Hawkins	To Phoenix Suns---- Keith Erickson 1974 second-round draft pick ( Fred Saunders)
January 24, 1974	To Golden State Warriors---- 1975 third-round draft pick ( Otis Johnson)	To Phoenix Suns---- Bill Chamberlain

Free agents

Subtractions

Date	Player	Reason Left	New Team
September 14, 1973	Paul Stovall	Waived	San Diego Conquistadors (ABA)
September 18, 1973	Scott English	Waived	Virginia Squires (ABA)
September 19, 1973	Mo Layton	Waived	Portland Trail Blazers
November 27, 1973	Joe Reaves	Waived	Memphis Tams (ABA)

References

Standings on Basketball Reference

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

1973–74 NBA season by team

Eastern

Atlantic	Boston Buffalo New York Philadelphia

Central	Atlanta Capital Cleveland Houston

Western

Midwest	Chicago Detroit Kansas City-Omaha Milwaukee

Pacific	Golden State Los Angeles Phoenix Portland Seattle

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