Sports AH Challenge: 1968 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar signed by Phoenix Suns

[Beowulf2005]

Okay, this idea's been floating around in my brain since maybe about 1993 when I watched a 25th anniversary tape put out by the Phoenix Suns that basically documented the history of the team.
Imagine my surprise to find out that if not for the flip of a coin, one of the greatest basketball players to ever play the game could have his jersey hanging from the roof of the US Airways Center.

Check it out:
In 1968, there were two expansion teams added to the NBA - the Phoenix Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks. The two teams were vying for the number-one draft pick. That year, it was Lew Alcindor AKA Kareem Abdul-Jabbar from UCLA.
They settled it with a coin flip.
Milwaukee won the coin toss. They got Kareem. Phoenix selected Neal Walk.
The rest is history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kareem_Abdul-Jabbar#Professional_athletics

But luck can go either way.
What if Phoenix won the toss? How would the history of both teams (and the rest of the NBA) be different if Kareem started his career as a Sun instead of a Buck?

Any takers? I think we could turn this into a TL if anyone's interested.

 

[AltSptHst]

Kareem in Phoenix

Actually, that coin flip was in 1969, not 1968.

1969-1970: After the Suns won the Super Flip and Kareem, the Bucks and Sonics had a flip for Connie Hawkins. The Bucks won.

The Suns, with Kareem, Paul Silas, and Gail Goodrich leading the way, finish with the best record in the West at 58-24. They dispose of the Bulls in the first round, and the Lakers in the West Finals. Then, they lose to the Knicks in six games in the NBA Finals.

1970-71: The Suns make a big splash, trading their 71 #1, G Dick Van Arsdale, and C-F Mel Counts to the Royals for PG Oscar Robertson. With the Big O, Goodrich, Kareem, and Silas, the Suns cruise to 66 wins, beat the Warriors in the first round, the Lakers in the second round, and sweep the Bullets in the NBA finals.

1971-72: Joined during the season by Charlie Scott, a refugee from Virginia of the ABA, the Suns cruise to 65 wins and another Midwest Division championship. He takes Gail Goodrich's place, who is traded to the Lakers for a second round pick in 1973. They beat Golden St. in round one, and play the Lakers in a West final series that goes down as the best ever. The Suns beat LA in seven games, then get revenge on the Knicks in the finals.

72-73: Paul Silas went to Boston, completing the trade for Charlie Scott. With their first pick in the 72 NBA Draft, they trade up with the Pistons. They send Otto Moore to Houston for the 4th pick in the draft, and took Corky Calhoun. They also picked up Gus Johnson from the Bullets. The Suns were moved to the Pacific Division after the Kings and Rockets switched conferences due to the King's shift from Cincy to KC. The Suns win the Pacific Division with a 56-26 record. They beat the Bulls, but they lose to the aging Lakers in the WCF.

73-74: With the first round pick(16th overall), the Suns select Swen Nater from UCLA, who ended up going to the ABA. Then, they selected F Jim Chones in the second round. With Chones, Oscar Robertson, Charlie Scott, and Kareem, the Suns end up winning the Pacific Division again. They beat Detroit in Round 1, but, with Kareem and Oscar slowed by injuries, the Bulls beat them in the West before losing to Boston in the NBA Finals in six games.

74-75: Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons decides to resign at the end of the year and take a year off. Also, Oscar Robertson decides that this will be his last year. John MacLeod replaces Fitzsimmons. In the first round of the draft, Phoenix takes PF Truck Robinson.

Meanwhile, there are rumblings that Kareem wants to go to a bigger city, but MacLeod is confident that they can get it worked out. Phoenix wins another Pacific title with a 55-27 record, but they lose again to the Bulls in the WC finals as Charlie Scott and Oscar Robertson struggle with injuries during the series. The Bulls go on to win the championship over the Bullets.

75-76: The retirement of Oscar Robertson leaves a gap at the pivotal PG position, so the Suns draft Gus Williams with their first round pick. With a core of Kareem, Gus Williams, Truck Robinson, Jim Chones, and Charlie Scott, the Suns finish in second to the Warriors in the Pacific Division, and they lose to them in the WCF in seven games. The Warriors go on to knock off Boston in five in the NBA Finals.

76-77: During one of the most memorable off-seasons in NBA History, Kareem is starting to really grow dissatisfied with Phoenix. He wants to be traded to a bigger market like NY or LA. So, the Suns send him back home. He is traded to the Knicks for Spencer Haywood, Earl Monroe, 1977 #1 pick, 1978 #1 pick, and 1980 #1 pick.

 

[DTF955Baseballfan]

Sounds good. iI wonder if the Phoenix dynasty helps them in other sports, too?

I see them coming in a close third in American League expansion in 1977, with Toronto (denied the Giants ) and Seattle (Pilots moved) still the best choices.

However, Phoenix is now on par with, or even superior to, Tampa by the middle '80s as an expansion site, given increased support for basketball labeling it a big league city. Seattle and Tampa (college football is huge in the South) still get the NFL's expansion clubs in '76, but Robert Irsay looks at Phoenix just as much as Indianapolis before his move, and Phoenix could be the expansion team that beats out Tampa for 1993 in baseball, when it was presumed Tampa would win and Miami beat them out.

A more likely choice is that Miami gets the Marlins, but the Giants are allowed to move to Phoenix in 1993. I've heard, through www.baseball-fever.com discussion. that two things kept the Giants from Tampa: 1. An awful location for the stadium and possibly poor ownership (which also cost them the 1993 expansion club); and, 2. bill White, N.L. President, didn't like the idea because of how racist the Florida area was in the '60s during spring training. Neither of these would be true if the Giants moved to Phoenix. (And, the travel situation would be less confusing, too.)

Of course, it could be totally the other way, and Phoenix doesn't support the other sports well, becoming a basketball-only city the way Carolina is football only in many ways. (Already lost one NBA team, not sure how the other is doing, and voted down a stadium that, IIRC, would have brought the Twins there in the late 1990s.)