The 1970–71 Phoenix Suns season was the third season for the
Phoenix Suns of the
National Basketball Association.
Head coachCotton Fitzsimmons lead the Suns, in the NBA's first season which separated the teams into both conferences and divisions as the league continued to gain more teams. It was the first season the Suns would be without the services of
All-StarguardGail Goodrich. With a 48–34 record (fourth best in the league), the Suns set the NBA record for the team with the best winning percentage not to make the playoffs. The team would break their own record the next year with a 49–33 finish. All home games were played at
Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The Suns were led in scoring by
Dick Van Arsdale with 21.9
points per game.
Connie Hawkins finished the season averaging 20.9 points and 9.1 rebounds per contest.
Paul Silas led the Suns with 12.5
rebounds per game, the highest-ever average in Suns history, while
Neal Walk garnered 8.2 rebounds to go with his 12.9 points a game.
Goodrich, a native of Los Angeles and who played college ball at
UCLA, was traded before the season back to the
Los Angeles Lakers, where he had played before being acquired in the expansion
draft of 1968. In exchange, the Suns obtained the 29-year-old 7-footer
Mel Counts, who was coming off a career-high 12.6 average in points. Goodrich would go on to play nine more seasons in the NBA, six of those with the Lakers. During those six years, he would average 22.3 points per game, appear in four
All-Star Games and be named to an
All-NBA First Team. Meanwhile, Counts averaged 11 points and 6.3 rebounds in his first of two seasons with the Suns.
The 1970–71 Phoenix Suns season was the third season for the
Phoenix Suns of the
National Basketball Association.
Head coachCotton Fitzsimmons lead the Suns, in the NBA's first season which separated the teams into both conferences and divisions as the league continued to gain more teams. It was the first season the Suns would be without the services of
All-StarguardGail Goodrich. With a 48–34 record (fourth best in the league), the Suns set the NBA record for the team with the best winning percentage not to make the playoffs. The team would break their own record the next year with a 49–33 finish. All home games were played at
Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The Suns were led in scoring by
Dick Van Arsdale with 21.9
points per game.
Connie Hawkins finished the season averaging 20.9 points and 9.1 rebounds per contest.
Paul Silas led the Suns with 12.5
rebounds per game, the highest-ever average in Suns history, while
Neal Walk garnered 8.2 rebounds to go with his 12.9 points a game.
Goodrich, a native of Los Angeles and who played college ball at
UCLA, was traded before the season back to the
Los Angeles Lakers, where he had played before being acquired in the expansion
draft of 1968. In exchange, the Suns obtained the 29-year-old 7-footer
Mel Counts, who was coming off a career-high 12.6 average in points. Goodrich would go on to play nine more seasons in the NBA, six of those with the Lakers. During those six years, he would average 22.3 points per game, appear in four
All-Star Games and be named to an
All-NBA First Team. Meanwhile, Counts averaged 11 points and 6.3 rebounds in his first of two seasons with the Suns.