1991–92 Phoenix Suns season

1991–92   Phoenix Suns season
Head coach	Cotton Fitzsimmons
General manager	Jerry Colangelo
Owner	Jerry Colangelo
Arena	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record	53–29 (.646)
Place	Division: 3rd (Pacific) Conference: 4th (Western)
Playoff finish	Conference semifinals (lost to Trail Blazers 1–4)
Stats at Basketball Reference
Local media
Television	KUTP ASPN
Radio	KTAR
< 1990–91 1992–93 >

The 1991–92 Phoenix Suns season was the 24th season for the Phoenix Suns in the National Basketball Association. ^[1] During the off-season, the Suns acquired three-point specialist Trent Tucker from the New York Knicks; ^[2] however, Tucker never played for the team as he was released to free agency, and later on signed with the San Antonio Spurs. ^{[3] [4]} The Suns were led by head coach Cotton Fitzsimmons, which would be the last of his four-season second stint as coach of the Suns. ^{[5] [6] [7]} All home games were played at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The Suns got off to a slow 5–9 start to the regular season, but then posted a nine-game winning streak as they won 14 of their next 15 games, and held a 32–16 record at the All-Star break. ^[8] The Suns finished in third place in the Pacific Division with a 53–29 record, and earned the fourth seed in the Western Conference. ^[9]

Jeff Hornacek averaged 20.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game, while Kevin Johnson averaged 19.7 points, 10.7 assists and 1.5 steals per game, and was named to the All-NBA Third Team, and sixth man Dan Majerle provided the team with 17.3 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game off the bench. In addition, Tom Chambers contributed 16.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, while Tim Perry showed improvement becoming the team's starting small forward averaging 12.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game, and Andrew Lang replaced Mark West as the team's starting center this season, averaging 7.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and leading the team with 2.5 blocks per game. Meanwhile, second-year forward Cedric Ceballos contributed 7.2 points per game, West averaged 6.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, and second-year guard Negele Knight provided with 5.8 points and 2.7 assists per game. ^[10]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Orlando Arena in Orlando, Florida, Hornacek and Majerle were both selected for the 1992 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Western Conference All-Star team; it was the first All-Star appearance for both players, and the only appearance for Hornacek. ^{[11] [12] [13]} In addition, Hornacek also participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout, ^{[14] [15]} and Ceballos won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. ^{[16] [12] [15]} Johnson finished in 15th place in Most Valuable Player voting, ^[17] while Majerle finished in third place in Sixth Man of the Year voting, ^[17] and Perry finished tied in sixth place in Most Improved Player voting. ^[17]

In the Western Conference First Round of the 1992 NBA playoffs, the Suns swept the Spurs in three straight games, ^{[18] [19] [20]} but lost 4–1 to the Portland Trail Blazers in the Western Conference Semi-finals. ^{[21] [22] [23]} The Trail Blazers would lose in six games to the defending NBA champion Chicago Bulls in the 1992 NBA Finals. ^{[24] [25] [26]}

Following the season, Hornacek, Perry and Lang were all traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. ^{[27] [28] [29]}

Draft picks

Main article: 1991 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
2	32	Chad Gallagher	Center	United States	Creighton
2	46	Richard Dumas	Forward	United States	Oklahoma State
2	50	Joey Wright	Guard	United States	Texas

None of the three players that the Suns selected in the 1991 NBA draft would play with the Suns this season. Both Chad Gallagher and Joey Wright were cut from the team before the regular season began, while Richard Dumas showcased promising talents early on in training camp, but was suspended from the team for the entire season due to substance abuse violations. ^{[30] [31]} Dumas would, however, return to the Suns to play what became his proper rookie season the following season afterward.

Roster

1991–92 Phoenix Suns roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From PG 15 Steve Burtt 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1962–11–05 Iona SF 23 Cedric Ceballos 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1969–08–02 Cal State Fullerton PF 24 Tom Chambers 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1959–06–21 Utah SF 21 Richard Dumas  (S) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1969–05–19 Oklahoma State SG 14 Jeff Hornacek 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1963–05–03 Iowa State PG 7 Kevin Johnson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1966–03–04 California PG 32 Negele Knight 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1967–03–06 Dayton C 28 Andrew Lang 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1966–06–28 Arkansas SF 9 Dan Majerle 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1965–09–09 Central Michigan PF 0 Jerrod Mustaf 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 238 lb (108 kg) 1969–10–28 Maryland SF 45 Ed Nealy 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 238 lb (108 kg) 1960–02–19 Kansas State PF 34 Tim Perry 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1965–06–04 Temple PF 31 Kurt Rambis 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 213 lb (97 kg) 1958–02–25 Santa Clara C 41 Mark West 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1960–11–05 Old Dominion

Head coach Cotton Fitzsimmons Assistant(s) Lionel Hollins Scotty Robertson Paul Westphal Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster Updated: April 23, 1992

Roster Notes

• Rookie small forward Richard Dumas was suspended for violating the NBA's substance abuse policy. ^[32]

Regular season

Season standings

Pacific Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y- Portland Trail Blazers	57	25	.695	—	33–8	24–17	21–9
x- Golden State Warriors	55	27	.671	2	31–10	24–17	19–11
x- Phoenix Suns	53	29	.646	4	36–5	17–24	17–13
x- Seattle SuperSonics	47	35	.573	10	28–13	19–22	16–14
x- Los Angeles Clippers	45	37	.549	12	29–12	16–25	13–17
x- Los Angeles Lakers	43	39	.524	14	24–17	19–22	13–17
Sacramento Kings	29	53	.354	28	21–20	8–33	6–24

y – clinched division title

x – clinched playoff spot

#	Western Conference v t e
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Portland Trail Blazers	57	25	.695	–
2	y-Utah Jazz	55	27	.671	2
3	x-Golden State Warriors	55	27	.671	2
4	x-Phoenix Suns	53	29	.646	4
5	x-San Antonio Spurs	47	35	.573	10
6	x-Seattle SuperSonics	47	35	.573	10
7	x-Los Angeles Clippers	45	37	.549	12
8	x-Los Angeles Lakers	43	39	.524	14
9	Houston Rockets	42	40	.512	15
10	Sacramento Kings	29	53	.354	28
11	Denver Nuggets	24	58	.293	33
12	Dallas Mavericks	22	60	.268	35
13	Minnesota Timberwolves	15	67	.183	42

z – clinched division title

y – clinched division title

x – clinched playoff spot

Playoffs

Game log

1992 playoff game log
First Round: 3–0 (home: 2–0; road: 1–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 April 24 San Antonio W 117–111 Dan Majerle (25) Cedric Ceballos (9) Kevin Johnson (17) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 14,496 1–0 2 April 26 San Antonio W 119–107 Hornacek, Perry (31) Lang, Perry (10) Kevin Johnson (19) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 14,496 2–0 3 April 29 @ San Antonio W 101–92 Hornacek, Johnson (22) Tim Perry (9) Kevin Johnson (11) HemisFair Arena 14,853 3–0
Conference semifinals: 1–4 (home: 1–1; road: 0–3) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 May 5 @ Portland L 111–113 Kevin Johnson (24) Chambers, Johnson (8) Jeff Hornacek (12) Memorial Coliseum 12,888 0–1 2 May 7 @ Portland L 119–126 Kevin Johnson (35) Jeff Hornacek (11) Dan Majerle (6) Memorial Coliseum 12,888 0–2 3 May 9 Portland W 124–117 Jeff Hornacek (30) Majerle, Perry (9) Kevin Johnson (16) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 14,496 1–2 4 May 11 Portland L 151–153 (2OT) Kevin Johnson (35) Dan Majerle (11) Kevin Johnson (14) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 14,496 1–3 5 May 14 @ Portland L 106–118 Chambers, Perry (19) Tom Chambers (8) Kevin Johnson (6) Memorial Coliseum 12,888 1–4
1992 schedule

Awards and honors

Week/Month

• Jeff Hornacek was named Player of the Month for December.
• Cotton Fitzsimmons was named Coach of the Month for December.

All-Star

• Jeff Hornacek was selected as a reserve for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. It was his first and only All-Star selection. Hornacek finished seventh in voting among Western Conference guards with 271,180 votes.
• Dan Majerle was selected as a reserve for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. It was his first All-Star selection.
• Other Suns players receiving All-Star votes were Tom Chambers (406,185) and Kevin Johnson (309,820).
• Cedric Ceballos won the Slam Dunk Contest, winning the competition with the famous "Hocus Pocus" blindfolded dunk.
• Jeff Hornacek participated in the Three-Point Shootout, losing to champion and former Suns teammate Craig Hodges.

Season

• Kevin Johnson was named to the All-NBA Third Team. Johnson also finished 15th in MVP voting. ^[17]
• Dan Majerle finished third in Sixth Man of the Year voting. ^[17]

Player statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Steve Burtt	31	2	11.5	.463	.167	.704	1.1	1.9	.5	.1	6.0
Cedric Ceballos	64	4	11.3	.482	.167	.736	2.4	0.8	.3	.2	7.2
Tom Chambers	69	66	28.2	.431	.367	.830	5.8	2.1	.8	.5	16.3
Jeff Hornacek	81	81	38.0	.512	.439	.886	5.0	5.1	2.0	.4	20.1
Kevin Johnson	78	78	37.2	.479	.217	.807	3.7	10.7	1.5	.3	19.7
Negele Knight	42	1	15.0	.475	.308	.688	1.1	2.7	.6	.1	5.8
Andrew Lang	81	71	24.3	.522	.000	.768	6.7	0.5	.6	2.5	7.7
Dan Majerle	82	15	34.8	.478	.382	.756	5.9	3.3	1.6	.5	17.3
Jerrod Mustaf	52	3	10.5	.477	.	.690	2.8	0.9	.4	.3	4.5
Ed Nealy	52	4	9.7	.512	.400	.667	2.1	0.7	.3	.0	3.1
Tim Perry	80	69	31.0	.523	.375	.712	6.9	1.7	.6	1.5	12.3
Kurt Rambis	28	5	13.6	.463	.	.778	3.8	1.3	.4	.5	3.2
Mark West	82	11	17.5	.632	.	.637	4.5	0.3	.2	1.0	6.1

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Steve Burtt	8	0	13.0	.421	.000	.857	1.5	1.8	.6	.0	6.3
Cedric Ceballos	8	8	23.5	.550	.	.667	6.4	1.5	.8	.8	13.5
Tom Chambers	7	0	27.7	.459	.571^	.844	4.4	2.7	.3	.7	15.6
Jeff Hornacek	8	8	42.9	.484	.471^	.912	6.4	5.3	1.8	.3	20.4
Kevin Johnson	8	8	41.9	.484	.500^	.861	4.1	11.6	1.5	.3	23.6
Andrew Lang	8	8	24.0	.375	.	.789	4.0	0.3	.4	1.9	5.6
Dan Majerle	7	0	38.0	.432	.273	.962+	6.3	2.9	1.4	.0	18.6
Ed Nealy	8	0	8.4	.389	.385	1.000+	2.3	0.5	.4	.0	2.9
Tim Perry	8	8	23.1	.603†	.	.719	4.9	1.4	.4	.8	12.4
Mark West	8	0	12.0	.737†	.	.500	2.1	0.3	.3	.5	4.0

† – Minimum 20 field goals made.
^ – Minimum 5 three-pointers made.
+ – Minimum 10 free throws made.

Player statistics citation: ^[10]

Transactions

Trades

June 27, 1991	To Cleveland Cavaliers Rights to Miloš Babić	To Phoenix Suns Rights to Stefano Rusconi
October 1, 1991	To New York Knicks Xavier McDaniel	To Phoenix Suns Jerrod Mustaf Trent Tucker 1992 second-round draft pick ( Brian Davis) 1994 second-round draft pick ( Anthony Goldwire)

Free agents

Additions

Date	Player	Contract	Old Team
February 14, 1992	Steve Burtt	Signed two 10-day contracts	Oklahoma City Cavalry (CBA)
March 5, 1992	Steve Burtt	Signed for rest of season	Phoenix Suns

Subtractions

Date	Player	Reason left	New team
August 6, 1991	Ian Lockhart	Free agent	Cholet Basket (France)
October 29, 1991	Joey Wright	Waived	Pensacola HotShots (GBA)
October 30, 1991	Joe Barry Carroll	Waived	—N/a (Retired)
November 15, 1991	Trent Tucker	Waived	San Antonio Spurs

Player Transactions Citation: ^[33]

See also

• 1991–92 NBA season

References

1. "1991-92 Phoenix Suns Roster and Stats".
2. Brown, Clifton (October 2, 1991). "BASKETBALL; Knicks Add Firepower by Acquiring McDaniel". The New York Times. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
3. "SPORTS PEOPLE: BASKETBALL; Suns Release Tucker". The New York Times. November 17, 1991. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
4. "SPORTS PEOPLE: PRO BASKETBALL; Tucker Joins Spurs". The New York Times. February 28, 1992. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
5. "SPORTS PEOPLE: BASKETBALL; Suns to Change Coaches". The New York Times. April 24, 1992. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
6. "NBA Firings: Westhead, Hamblen". Los Angeles Times. Staff and Wire Reports. April 24, 1992. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
7. "Westhead Fired by Nuggets, Fitzsimmons Steps Down". The Washington Post. April 24, 1992. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
8. "NBA Games Played on February 6, 1992". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
9. "1991–92 Phoenix Suns Schedule and Results". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
10. "1991–92 Phoenix Suns Roster and Stats". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
11. Heisler, Mark (February 9, 1992). "Comeback or Farewell, a Magical All-Star Game". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
12. "1992 NBA All-Star Recap". NBA.com. NBA.com Staff. September 13, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2025.
13. "1992 NBA All-Star Game: West 153, East 113". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
14. "Pro Basketball". Gadsden Times. February 8, 1992. p. D2. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
15. "NBA & ABA All-Star Game Contest Winners". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
16. "In the Dark, in the Money". The New York Times. February 10, 1992. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
17. "1991–92 NBA Awards Voting". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
18. "PRO BASKETBALL; Jordan Scores 56 Points, Finishing Sweep of Heat". The New York Times. April 30, 1992. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
19. "Jordan Warms to Task, Hits 56, Eliminates Heat". The Washington Post. April 30, 1992. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
20. "1992 NBA Western Conference First Round: Spurs vs. Suns". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
21. "Drexler Scores 34 as Trail Blazers Move Ahead: NBA: Portland Takes Series from Suns, 4-1, to Reach Western Finals Again, 118-106". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. May 15, 1992. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
22. "Red-Hot Blazers Bop Suns". Deseret News. Associated Press. May 15, 1992. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
23. "1992 NBA Western Conference Semifinals: Suns vs. Trail Blazers". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
24. Brown, Clifton (June 15, 1992). "With Jordan Starring, Bulls Make It a Rerun". The New York Times. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
25. Heisler, Mark (June 15, 1992). "Bull Reserves Take Title by Horns: Game 6: Along with Pippen, They Go on a Late 14-2 Run That Carries Chicago to a 97-93 Victory". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
26. "1992 NBA Finals: Trail Blazers vs. Bulls". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
27. Brown, Clifton (June 18, 1992). "BASKETBALL; Bright Day for Suns: They Get Barkley". The New York Times. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
28. "76ers Send Barkley to Suns: Pro Basketball: Controversial Forward Traded After Acquittal in Milwaukee. Philadelphia Gets Hornacek, Lang and Perry". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. June 18, 1992. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
29. Nakamura, David (June 18, 1992). "76ers Trade Barkley to Suns". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
30. "NBA suspends ex-Poke Dumas for NBA season". The Daily Oklahoman . November 1, 1991. p. 29. Retrieved March 10, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
31. "Richard Dumas on'93". NBA.com . June 13, 2003. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
32. "SPORTS PEOPLE: BASKETBALL; Suns Suspend Dumas". The New York Times. November 1, 1991. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
33. "1991–92 Phoenix Suns Transactions". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved July 2, 2021.