The Curse of the Fountain of Youth

Arizona’s dry desert heat, ample golf courses, and laid-back atmosphere have for years attracted large swarms of retirees looking to float peacefully off into the sunset. In that light, the fact that many of the NBA’s former elite have found themselves donning purple and orange makes perfect sense.

What makes the Phoenix Suns so attractive to the elder-statesmen in the NBA is the Suns medical staff--a staff that has been resurrecting and sustaining the careers of a variety of former all-stars for the past half dozen years.

In ever way, it is all at once miraculous, logical, and downright brilliant.



Valley of the Suns wrote an in depth article earlier this year about the cutting edge Suns training staff and how it has separated itself from every other staff in the league. The piece is a terrific read and will give greater insight as well as specific details concerning today’s subject matter.

To summarize, the Suns training staff focuses on the totality of the player, tracking all sorts of information—flexibility (big toe, foot, ankle, hips, internal and external rotations, shoulder), manual muscle testing, measurements of legs, ankles and hips, and visual and movement assessments of players. These assessments occur at least four times a week, with some players being evaluated daily. Once all of this information has been gathered and processed, a daily regime is set up for each individual player.

The results have been spectacular.

The most obvious example is Steve Nash--the former posterboy of the Suns. During his eight-year run in Phoenix, Nash won two MVPs, led the Association in assists five times, posted five straight 50-40-90 (FG, 3pt, and FT percentages) seasons, and led his team to the Western Conference Finals three times. During his eight year Suns career, Nash averaged 77.5 games a season. Oh, and he did all of that after he turned 30 and with a balky back that needed constant maintenance.

After battling back from a severe ankle injury and all of the setbacks and reinjuries that came with it during six years of his prime, a 35-year-old Grant Hill headed to the desert to play basketball. In his first season with the team, he played in 70 games for the first time since he first injured his ankle way back in the 99-00 season. The following three seasons in Phoenix, Hill missed three total games while playing 30 minutes a night. Injury did hit him last year, as the 39-year-old Hill only played in 49 of the lockout-shortened 66-game season.  

In 2009, a 36-year-old Shaquille O’Neal found new life in the desert, playing 75 games—the most since his MVP season a decade earlier—shooting the highest field goal percentage of his career that also led the entire NBA (.609), being selected to an all-NBA squad (3^rd team) for the first time in four seasons, and earning co-MVP honors with Kobe Bryant during the All-Star game.

Last season, Michael Redd decided to try and drink from the Suns fountain and revive a career that had been sidelined by two major knee injuries--tearing the ACL and MCL in his left knee on both occasions. The first occurred in January of 2009 and cost him 49 games that season and 64 the next. The second occurred during the 10-11 season and saw Redd miss 72 games.  

Last year, Redd played in 51 of a possible 66 games as a rotation player and averaged eight points on 40 percent shooting. His season was highlighted by a 25-point outburst against the Houston Rockets in March.

This year, another oft-injured player, Jermaine O'Neal decided to test the desert healing. O'Neal has never played a full season in his career. After turning 26, O'Neal missed 38, 31, 13, 40, 14, 12, 58, and 41 games over the past eight seasons of his career due to a variety of injuries. If ever there was an ultimate test case for the effectiveness of the Suns medical staff...

While he's already missed a couple of games this year, amazingly, O'Neal is shooting a career best .535 percent from the floor, posting an 18.7 PER (his best in six years), and playing 18 minutes a night.

From devastating, seemingly career-ending injuries, to chronic pain, to a long history of incurring a variety of ailments, the Suns training staff has proven that it has been more than capable of getting its players to play games, no matter what the circumstances. Not only have the players played, but they've played up to their full potential despite their advanced ages.

The problem is that all of these players (save Jermaine O'Neal) no longer play for the Suns. No longer drink from the fountain of youth.

A 37-year-old Shaq left the Suns for Cleveland, played in 53 games and shot the third worst percentage of his career. He suffered through injuries that followed him to Boston the next season and eventually forced him to retire.

After a surprising comeback last season, Michael Redd is not currently in the league.

And while he hasn't been missed, Grant Hill suffered a bone bruise to his right knee and has yet to suit up for the Clippers. There is no timetable for his return.

Lakers fans know all too well about Nash's current state of affairs. He's injured and has been for basically the entire season. Reports now say that Nash will miss at least another two weeks, which would mean he'd be returning around New Year's--a cost of an additional eight games. That would mean Nash will have missed as many games in purple and gold as he did over his last six years in purple and orange...