Mike D’Antoni didn’t hesitate when asked which Suns team he believed was his best.
“The first year I thought we were the best team in the league,” D’Antoni said during an appearance on the Suns After Dark podcast.
He was talking about the 2004-05 Phoenix squad that kicked off the “Seven Seconds or Less” era and helped shape the way the NBA plays now. That team went 62-20, matching the franchise record for wins at the time, and did it with a fast, fearless style built around Steve Nash’s brilliance and a wave of 3-point shooting.
The starting five was loaded: Nash, Quentin Richardson, Joe Johnson, Shawn Marion and Amar’e Stoudemire. Nash, Marion and Stoudemire all made the All-Star team that season, and the Suns’ presence at All-Star Weekend was a showcase for the whole identity D’Antoni was building.
Nash won the Skills Challenge. Richardson took the 3-point contest.
Stoudemire delivered in the Slam Dunk contest, even bringing Nash into the act for some of the most memorable dunks of the event.
That group’s pace, spacing and shot volume pointed straight toward the modern NBA. Phoenix wasn’t just playing fast; it was playing in a way that felt ahead of its time.
D’Antoni also pointed to one major blow that changed the course of that season. Johnson suffered a fractured orbital bone on a hard fall during a dunk attempt in the series before the Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Mavericks. It was the first time all season he missed a game after starting all 82 and putting together a breakout year with 17.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.0 steals per game, while hitting 47.8 percent of his 3s.
“Joe Johnson was a big part of what we did,” D’Antoni said.
He added that Johnson sometimes handled point guard duties when Nash sat and also took on tough defensive assignments to lighten the load on Nash.
“He was an integral part of what we did,” D’Antoni said. “We missed Joe a lot.”
Phoenix managed to get past Dallas without him, with Jim Jackson stepping into the starting lineup. But Johnson missed the first two games of the Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs, and the Suns dropped both. He returned for Game 3 and scored 15 points on 6-of-14 shooting, but Phoenix lost again and fell behind 0-3 in the series.
The injury remains one of those Suns “what if” moments. Johnson would later leave in a sign-and-trade to the Atlanta Hawks, where he became a No. 1 option. Phoenix kept reworking the roster after that, but under D’Antoni, the Suns never got beyond the Western Conference Finals.
In Other News...
Bradley Beal Talk Is Reopening A Frustrating Suns Debate
Bradley Beals Suns tenure has become one of those files that seems settled until somebody opens it back up. Sam Vecenie of The Athletic recently argued that Phoenix got more out of Beal than the broader memory suggests, pointing to his shot-making and the effort he brought on defense even while he was never positioned as one of the teams top three options. For a fan base that watched the partnership unfold alongside Devin Booker, the debate is really about whether the on-paper disappointment matched the on-court value.
The frustration around Beal in Phoenix was always bigger than any one game or stretch, though, because the injuries and the fit never quite lined up the way the Suns needed. Vecenie even floated the idea that Beal could still help a contender in a different role, potentially as a bench piece for a team like the Miami Heat on a minimum deal. For the Suns, that kind of discussion keeps circling back to the same uncomfortable question: was the problem Beal himself, or the way the roster asked him to fit? [Read more 🡒]
Jordan Goodwin Meant More To The Suns Than Most Fans Realized
Jordan Goodwin spent much of the 2025-26 season becoming one of the Suns more quietly important pieces, the kind of player whose value shows up in the details before it shows up in the conversation. Over 70 games, he made real strides in scoring, shot the ball more efficiently and lifted his three-point percentage, all while fitting into the sort of role that can stabilize a team trying to find its footing.
His absence in the playoffs was harder to ignore. Goodwin was sidelined early by a calf injury and missed most of the first-round series against Oklahoma City, a matchup Phoenix lost in four straight, and the Suns never quite looked the same without the energy and dependability he had brought during their turnaround run. For a team that needed every usable rotation piece it could get, losing one of its most trusted contributors became a bigger deal than many fans seemed to realize. [Read more 🡒]
Mike DAntoni Just Reinforced Why Suns Fans Should Trust Jordan Ott
Mike DAntonis latest stop on the Suns After Dark podcast offered a reminder that Jordan Otts rise in the coaching ranks didnt happen in a vacuum. The former Phoenix coach talked about their time together on the Brooklyn Nets staff and came away sounding convinced that Ott already had the kind of offensive feel and preparation that teams want in a lead assistant, the sort of behind-the-scenes credibility that matters when a franchise is trying to build something durable.
For Suns fans, the endorsement lands at a useful moment. Ott has already started to look like a stabilizing presence as the organization works through recent roster changes and other moving parts, and hearing a coach with DAntonis background speak so confidently about him only adds to the sense that Phoenix has found someone equipped for the long haul. The bigger question now is how far that trust can carry once the Suns start putting the pieces together on the floor. [Read more 🡒]