PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns are coming into the playoffs as the No. 1 overall seed after winning a franchise-best 64 games but what they'll do in the tunnel before taking the court has been garnering a lot of attention as well.
At every Suns home game, the Footprint Center's center-hung video board gives fans a glimpse inside the team's energetic pregame huddle. This includes, but is not limited to:
Chris Paul skipping in circles with Elfrid Payton, Cam Payne doing the 'Griddy' with Torey Craig, Mikal Bridges dancing with his bright yellow shoes squeaking on the floor, and Deandre Ayton doing the Oklahoma drill with former NFL player turned teammate Ish Wainwright.
"No one is doing what we're doing and then going out there and busting a**," Suns center JaVale McGee said. "No one is doing that. We love it."
McGee is the originator of this pregame huddle. He's done something similar during his time with the L.A. Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers, but McGee says each rendition is its own unique thing.
"Every team I go to, they transform it into their own and I brought it to the best team in the world," McGee said. "There's a lot of teams out here having fun and losing. We're the best team in the world and we're having fun doing it. I know from the outside looking in, they hate it. But we gotta keep our heads down. We're not worried about anybody else but ourselves."
"’Vale started it, he brought it here. We didn't do it last year so he brought all that energy pregame and we love every second of it," Suns forward Mikal Bridges said.
Part of this pregame routine includes a monologue from McGee in which he announces he's with his dogs. The rest of the team starts barking in response with Ayton going down on all fours while his teammates pull him back on an imaginary leash.
"The thing that DA does, he did that himself," McGee said.
"Oh yeah, I'm the big dog off the leash," Ayton said smiling. "The guys gotta hold me back in the pregame because I tend to get too amped up before the games. Gotta calm me down a little bit." Ayton threw in a couple barks for emphasis when explaining this to the media.
"Deandre is like "Mad Dog,'" Suns center Dario Saric said with a laugh. "It's just amazing, JaVale bringing that new thing -- something fresh. We needed something like that. It's just an amazing feeling to be part of that. It's special. It's ours."
While many Suns players have intricate handshakes that involve dance moves, two-time All-Star Devin Booker keeps it simple with a dap and a hug. Now in his seventh season with the Suns, Booker believes the camaraderie off the court translates to their success on the hardwood.
"That's chemistry. Everybody has something with each other individually and then we top it off with JaVale doing his thing,” Booker said. “It's just a good way to get us ready to go. We enjoy doing it, we enjoy doing it on the road... It keeps us together."
The Suns have taken this routine on the road, too. While the players on this team might be considered heroes in Phoenix for taking the Suns to the playoffs for just the second time since 2010, the antics from the reigning Western Conference champions aren’t well-received everywhere.
"We got some villains, now. The crowd don't like us for some reason and they don't understand when you talk smack, we're gonna smack your team,” Ayton said. “That's just the motivation. It's us against the world, for real. People hate us on the road and we like it, we love it. A lot of people call us a fluke and we hear the same noise we heard last year and all it do is just amped us up and made us a whole when we're on the road and let us play as a unit."
Respected NBA veteran Jae Crowder says this team is the closest knit group that he's been a part of on and off the court. If you get to a Suns home game before tip-off, you’ll see Ayton, Bridges and Cameron Payne dancing and singing to the song “Nevada” by NBA YoungBoy to get themselves hype for the game. Fans have taken a liking to this slightly silly pregame routine that showcases the players’ personalities. For the players, it’s a moment of togetherness that reminds them of their excitement and passion for the game.
"We have 82 games, that's a long time. We just try to find a way to have fun but stay locked in. Kinda do it for the fans, too," Payne said.
The unity among this team is palpable from the pregame huddle to the chemistry on the court. The Suns are looking for revenge and redemption this summer after losing to the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2021 NBA Finals. McGee wasn’t part of that Suns team but he’s become the heart and soul of the squad in 2022. McGee ends every pregame huddle the same way each time: "We are the best team in the world! Win on three -- 1, 2, 3, win!”
Now all the Suns have to do is win 16 games to bring Phoenix its first NBA Championship. The Sun beat the New Orleans Pelicans 110-99 in Game 1 of the First Round series. Game 2 is on Tues., April 20 with tip-off set for 7 p.m. at Footprint Center.
Follow the conversation with Lina Washington on Twitter: @LWashingtonTV. If you have a sports story idea, e-mail Lina at LWashington@12News.com.
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