In truth, one of the best halves of individual NBA basketball began two weeks before it happened.
Cotton Fitzsimmons had just been appointed as the Suns’ new head coach. His unenviable task: turning around a grounded basketball team fresh off four consecutive losing seasons.
Labeling Fitzsimmons as “new” was misleading, however. He had coached the Suns previously in the early 1970s. He was also extremely familiar with many individuals on the Suns’ staff and roster, including veteran guard Eddie Johnson.
Fitzsimmons was the head coach of the Kansas City Kings team that drafted Johnson 29th overall in 1981.