With a $2 million expansion fee, Phoenix got its first major professional sports teams. While critics scoffed at the idea of basketball in Phoenix, the Suns' organization headed by 28-year old General Manager Jerry Colonagelo sought to build a first-class organization.

The Suns to a step in that direction by hiring Johnny "Red" Kerr, who two years earlier had led the Chicago Bulls an expansion team into the playoffs earning Coach of the Year honors. The first player selected by the Suns was Dick Van Arsdale, a guard taken off the New York Knicks roster.

Van Arsdale would score the Suns very first basket on October 18th at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum as the Suns beat the Seattle Supersonics 116-107. The Suns would get off to a great start winning four of their first seven games.

However, eventually, they would come back to earth as they just won 12 games the rest of the way on the way to a league-worst 16-66 record.