1979–80 Phoenix Suns season

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The 1979–80 Phoenix Suns season was the 12th season for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association and at 55–27, the team's best regular season record since the franchise's inception. The Suns defeated Western Conference foe Kansas City in the opening round of the playoffs, marking the first time the Suns had won a playoff series in back-to-back seasons. In the Western Conference Semifinals, the Suns would lose to the Pacific-winning Los Angeles Lakers, who later went on to win the season's championship. The Suns were led by head coach John MacLeod, his seventh season with the team, and played all home games in Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Paul Westphal led the Suns in scoring with a 21.9 point-per-game average and earned All-NBA First Team honors, while Walter Davis was second in team scoring with a 21.5 average. Both Westphal and Davis would return as selections to the All-Star Game. Truck Robinson and Alvan Adams provided an inside presence, averaging 17 and 15 points per game to go with nine and eight rebounds each. Robinson would play in just three of the eight Suns' playoff games, however.

Offseason

NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	22	Kyle Macy	Guard	United States	Kentucky
2	24	Johnny High	Guard	United States	Nevada
3	64	Al Green	Guard	United States	Louisiana State
4	86	Malcolm Cesare	Forward	United States	Florida
5	107	Mark Eaton	Center	United States	Cypress JC
6	127	Dale Shackelford	Forward	United States	Syracuse
7	147	Ollie Matson	Forward	United States	Pepperdine
8	165	Charles Jones	Center	United States	Albany State
9	183	Hosea Champine	Guard	United States	Robert Morris
10	201	Korky Nelson	Center	United States	Santa Clara

Roster

Phoenix Suns roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB (Y-M-D) From 5.5 !F/C 33 USA ! Adams, Alvan 81 !6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1954-07-19 Oklahoma 1.5 !G 23 USA ! Bratz, Mike 74 !6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1955-10-17 Stanford 1.5 !G 10 USA ! Buse, Don 76 !6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1950-08-10 Evansville 5.5 !F/C 45 USA ! Cook, Jeff 82 !6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1956-10-21 Idaho State 2.5 !G/F 6 USA ! Davis, Walter 78 !6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 193 lb (88 kg) 1954-09-09 North Carolina 6.0 !C 35 USA ! Forrest, Bayard  (IN) 82 !6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1954-07-08 Grand Canyon 4.0 !F 24 USA ! Heard, Garfield 78 !6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 219 lb (99 kg) 1948-05-03 Oklahoma 1.5 !G 22 USA ! High, Johnny 75 !6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1957-04-25 Nevada 6.0 !C 53 USA ! Kelley, Rich 84 !7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1953-03-23 Stanford 4.0 !F 50 USA ! Kramer, Joel  79 !6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 203 lb (92 kg) 1955-11-30 San Diego State 4.0 !F 21 USA ! Robinson, Leonard 79 !6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1951-10-04 Tennessee State 4.0 !F 14 USA ! Scott, Alvin 79 !6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1955-09-14 Oral Roberts 1.5 !G 44 USA ! Westphal, Paul 76 !6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1950-11-30 Southern California	Head coach John MacLeod (Bellarmine) Assistant coach(es) Al Bianchi (Bowling Green) John Wetzel (Virginia Tech) Athletic trainer(s) Joe Proski (Montana State) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve	Inactive
C	Alvan Adams	Rich Kelley		Bayard Forrest
PF	Truck Robinson	Gar Heard	Jeff Cook
SF	Walter Davis	Alvin Scott		Joel Kramer
SG	Paul Westphal	Johnny High
PG	Don Buse	Mike Bratz

Regular season

Standings

Game log

Playoffs

Game log

Awards and honors

All-Star

• Paul Westphal was selected as a reserve for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. Westphal finished fourth in voting among Western Conference guards with 127,409 votes. It was his fourth consecutive All-Star selection.
• Walter Davis was selected as a reserve for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. Davis finished fourth in voting among Western Conference forwards with 100,546 votes. It was his third consecutive All-Star selection.

Season

• Paul Westphal was named to the All-NBA First Team.
• Don Buse was named to the All-Defensive First Team.

Player statistics

Season

* - Stats with the Suns.
† - Minimum 25 three-pointers made.
+ - Minimum 50 games played.

Playoffs

† - Minimum 20 field goals made.
^ - Minimum 10 free throws made.

References

• Standings on Basketball Reference