History of SC Hoops- Top Pro Careers, #2 Paul Westphal

To me it is a bit of a toss up between Williams and Westphal, but Westy gets the nod due to being a HOF player, one of only two for SC.

Westphal was the 10th player taken in the 1972 draft by the Boston Celtics, and dropped to them because he only played half his senior year at SC due to a knee injury and surgery. Once he recovered for two years he was their top guard off the bench, playing all 82 games in both 74 and 75. In 74 he helped the Celtics beat Jabbar and the Bucks in 7 games to win the championship, playing a pivotal role in game 7, when he played 31 minutes, scored 12 points and dished out 6 assists.

So in 1975 Westphal was set to take the starting spot at shooting guard for the Celtics, but they traded him and 2 picks to the Suns for All Star Charlie Scott. Westy's place in the all time stat categories for SC players is hurt by the fact he broke his foot halfway through the season when he was 30, and for the next three and a half years only played 157 games out of a possible 287, where in the previous seven seasons he was an ironman, playing 570 out of a possible 574. For a five year period, however, when he played for the Phoenix Suns he was one of the top 10 players in the league, averaging 22.5 points (no three point line yet) 5.6 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals per game. In that five year period, he was top 5 in scoring twice, and top 12 in scoring five times. He was top 5 in assists once, top 12 in assists four times, and 2nd in steals once.

The year before Westphal got there, the Suns went 32-50, missing the playoffs, but along with getting Westphal they drafted Alvin Adams. These two led the team to a ten game turn around, going 42-40 and making the playoffs, which is where the real fun begins. First up were the Sonics, and the Suns achieved a mild upset, winning the series 4-2. Westphal averaged 24 points and 6 assists. Next up, however, were the defending champion Warriors, with 59 wins on the season. Everyone expected it to be over quickly, and the Warriors boat raced the Suns in game 1, winning by 25 points. In game two, however, Westphal went off, going 14 for 19 and scoring 31 points in Oakland to even the series. It went back and forth, and the Suns forced a game 7 in Oakland. In that game Westphal filled the stat sheet with 21 points on 9 of 12 shooting, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks, and the Suns pulled off one of the great upsets in playoff history. Next up was Westy's old team, the Celtics. In game one at the Garden Westphal was a little star struck, going 4-17, and the Suns lost by 11. For the rest of the series, however, Westphal would average 23 points and 5 assists, and the Suns would even it at 2-2 going back to Boston for game 5. Westphal got in foul trouble early, and it looked like an easy Boston win as they were up 18 after one and 16 at half. What came next in the second half and the three overtime periods resulted in the game being dubbed The Greatest Game Ever Played, and Westphal was the main driver of that. He hit runners, spinners, left handed shots, made steals, and each time the Celtics looked like they had it won he came up with a play to keep the Suns in it. With the Suns down 9 in the fourth, Westphal made a turnaround and a wing jumper back to back to get them within 5. Then, with about a minute left he posted up and hit a turn around off glass to cut it to 3, then poked it away from Charlie Scott, broke away for the pass and lay up to cut it to 1, drew the foul, and made the FT to tie the game and send it to OT. In the second OT with time running out he stole the inbounds, a la Havlicek and Bird, which led to a basket and the Suns taking the lead. Next, Havlicek hit a runner to go up by one and everyone thought the game was over, but there were 1+ seconds left, and Westphal had the presence to call time out, even though the Suns didn't have any left. This led to a technical foul, which the Celtics made to go up by two, but now because of the time out the Suns got it in the front court. Gar Heard hit one of the most famous shots in history off the inbounds, and it was on to the third OT. Westphal then hit a spinner off the backboard late in the 3rd OT to get the Suns back to within one, and then with time running out and the Suns down by six he hit a ridiculous 360 spinner from the left side to get them within four, and then hit a breakaway with 12 seconds left to get them within two, but that was as close as they would come. Boston won, and then won the next to take the series, but that game and Westphal's performance are part of basketball lore.

https://youtu.be/dA-7cQRcsFU?si=Korki3dotJ8UTL4N

The following year the Suns took a step back and didn't make the playoffs, but Westphal led the team, playing 81 games and scoring 21 points and dishing 6 assists per game. He made his first all star game, and was named first team All NBA along with Elvin Hayes, David Thompson, Kareem and Pistol Pete Maravich. In 77-78 the Suns added Walter Davis, and got back to the playoffs, losing in the first round. Westphal, however, was 5th in the league in scoring, 12th in assists and 11th in steals, at 25 points, 5.5 assists and 1.7 steals a game, scoring over 30 points nine times and over 40 points twice. He was an All Star, 2nd team all NBA and 6th in MVP voting. Westphal vs the Champion Bullets in 78:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cr97LNgpxuw

n 78-79 he averaged 24 points and 6.5 assists per game, scored over 35 points five times, was an All Star and again all NBA 1st team with Elvin Hayes, Marquis Johnson, Moses Malone and George Gervin. In the Month of March, he averaged 29 points and 7 assists. In the playoffs that year he scored 28 points in the opening game and 26 points in the close out game in Round 1 vs Portland, and scored 32 in the second round close out game vs the KC Kings. It was on to the Western Conference Finals, where the Suns would face Gus Williams and the defending Conference Champions Sonics. It was one of the greatest NBA series ever, with each winning the first two at home, then each winning on the other's court to force a game 7. In Game 5 Westphal scored 27 with 5 assists at the Kingdome to put the Suns on the brink of returning to the Finals. The Suns hadn't lost a home game in 10 weeks, and in Game 6 Westphal did all he could, scoring 29 points with 8 assists, but the Sonics came back from 9 down in the 4th to win by one. Game 7 was an epic back and forth affair, with Westphal scoring 25 with 9 assists, but Williams scored 29 and the Sonics won by three in a wild ending to take the series, and then beat the Bullets for the Title. Here are highlights from the last regular season meeting between the Sonics and Suns, an OT thriller, on 3/30/79:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_cNhC73E5o

In 1979-1980 The Suns won their most games ever, 55, but were third in the Pacific behind the Sonics again and the now 60-win Lakers. Westphal averaged 22 points a game, with 5 assists and was again an All Star and All NBA 1st team along with Doctor J, Larry Bird, Kareem and George Gervin. On Feb 21st he had his all time scoring high with 49 points at Detroit. Against Magic and Bird that year, He had high games of 30 and 34 points. In the playoffs the Suns got by the KC Kings in the first round, but next up were Magic, Kareem and the Lakers. The Sun lost by nine in Game 1 at the Forum, but Westphal put the Suns on his back in Game 2 in his hometown, scoring 37 points, his playoff career high, with 8 assists. It would take a Magic Triple Double and Kareem scoring 32 for the Lakers to win by 3 in OT. The Lakers would take the series, and win the first Championship of the Showtime era. Here are highlights from the 1980 All Star game, which had a few good players:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbm3TLXBoz0

At the end of the 1980 season both Westphal and the Suns realized change was needed, so when the Suns brought to Westy a trade to the Sonics for Dennis Johnson, Westphal agreed. He and Gus Williams shared the same agent, so the chance to play with a Wizard on a team two years removed from the championship sounded pretty good. This trade was a huge deal in the NBA, as it involved the Finals MVP in Johnson and a 4 time All NBA player in a straight up swap. The Sonics were thinking championship, Westphal was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and CBS scheduled the new champion Lakers at the Sonics as their season opener, with Westphal's arrival the top story. He would put up a typical Westphal line of 24 points, 5 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks:

https://youtu.be/mby5xXHD1R0?si=bvpuyNXlrBRzHzxb

This was a dream come true for SC fans... Williams and Westphal in the same back court competing for an NBA Championship, but it was not to be. First, Williams never played that year due to a contract dispute that really wasn't about money. Next, Westphal was as advertised through the first half of the season, averaging 20 points a game and making his 5th straight all star game, but he developed a stress fracture in his foot, and though he tried to play through it for a month he shut it down in February. His contract was up, and he remained unsigned until the following Feb when he signed with the Knicks, playing only 18 games that year. He bounced back the next year, playing 80 games, and was named the comeback player of the year. He scored 21 with 6 assists in the Knicks last visit that year to Boston Garden, and helped the Knicks knock out the Nets with 15 points and 7 assists in the Round 1 elimination game. The Knicks then got swept by the SIxers, but in Game 4 Westphal went for 14 with 8 assists in his last game as a Knick. He went back to the Suns for his last season, playing 59 games, with his last game being at home in a WCF loss to the Lakers. Westphal, a three time all NBA 1st teamer and 5 time all star, was inducted into the HOF in 2019, only the second SC player to receive that honor.

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History of SC Hoops- Top Pro Careers, #2 Paul Westphal