A former NBA point guard voiced his issues with the Phoenix Suns during an appearance on the Straight Game podcast that posted last week on YouTube.
Marcus Banks, who played in two seasons (2006-08) with the Suns, said Mike D’Antoni "promised" him considerable playing time behind two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash.
“D’Antoni, those guys come down and sit in my living room and promised me to play 25 to 35 minutes a game because Steve Nash was 62 years old at the time,” Banks said. “They ran him down.”
D'Antoni was recently inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor.
Banks signed a five-year, $21-million deal with the Suns in the summer of 2006 after averaging a career-high 12 points in his one season with Kevin Garnett and the Minnesota
Timberwolves in 2005-06.
“Ticket is the one who unlocked my game,” said Banks about Garnett. “… It was the perfect booster for me, mentally. I’m like, I’m here now.”
Banks said Garnett told him to “get his money.”
Next stop, Phoenix.
Nash wasn’t literally “62 years old” when Banks joined the Suns and still had plenty of game left. He won the second of back-to-back NBA MVP awards in 2005-06.
Still, Banks saw himself as the guy to help extend Nash’s career and help the Suns compete for an NBA championship.
The Dallas Mavericks eliminated the Suns in the 2006 Western Conference Finals.
“My job, man, we’ve got this young point guard, we’re going to pay him, get him in here,” recalled Banks, who was entering his fifth NBA season in 2006-07.
Banks said he got 65 DNPs “off my first contract.”
It isn’t clear what contract he’s referring to, but Banks played 45 games in his first year in Phoenix and 24 in his second and final year with the team. He averaged just five points and 0.4 assists with the Suns in 69 games. He averaged just 11.2 minutes in 2006-07 and 12.9 minutes in 2007-08.
In contrast, Nash averaged near a career-high 35.3 minutes in 2006-07 and 34.3 minutes in 2007-08 when he played all but one game in the regular season. His career-high minutes per game was 35.4 in 2005-06.
Banks later referenced scoring 42 points in a 2007 NBA Summer League game in Las Vegas after his first season in Phoenix.
Banks said he scored 45 points in a game and played four preseason games, but Real GM has him listed as playing only one game and that he scored 42 points in it. It was a single-game Summer League scoring record at the time.
Anthony Morrow set the current record with 47 points for the Golden State Warriors in 2009.
“Not only did you make me mad, I’m playing at home,” said Banks, who was born and raised in Las Vegas and attended UNLV. “My mom is in the stands. Bro, I went out and scorched everybody, 45 (points).”
GiveMeSport.com reported the Suns sat out Banks the remainder of Summer League with a sore shoulder.
“They said, ‘Shut it down, Marcus is a great player, we’re going to play him behind Steve Nash and (Leandro) Barbosa,’” Banks said on the podcast.
The Suns wound up trading Shawn Marion and Banks to the Miami Heat for Shaquille O’Neal before the 2008 NBA trade deadline.
Banks played for a total of five NBA teams in eight seasons, with the Toronto Raptors being his last final stop for two seasons (2009-11).
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Former NBA guard says Mike D'Antoni, Suns didn't keep promise
