1992–93 Phoenix Suns season

The 1992–93 NBA season was the 25th season for the Phoenix Suns in the National Basketball Association. This season is most memorable for the Suns acquiring controversial All-Star power forward Charles Barkley from the Philadelphia 76ers, signing free agent Danny Ainge, and hiring Paul Westphal as their new head coach.

The Suns had a successful regular season by posting a 14-game winning streak in December, which led them to a 21–4 start, held a 38–10 record at the All-Star break, then posted an 11-game winning streak between March and April, finishing in first place in the Pacific Division with a league-best 62–20 record, and earning the #1 seed in the Western Conference. The team set the franchise record for most wins in a season (the record was later tied in the 2004–05 season and later broken in the 2021-22 NBA season).

Barkley averaged 25.6 points, 12.1 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game, and was named to the All-NBA First Team, and was named the NBA Most Valuable Player of the Year, while Dan Majerle averaged 16.9 points and 1.7 steals per game, finished tied in first place in the league with 167 three-point field goals, and was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. In addition, point guard Kevin Johnson provided the team with 16.1 points, 7.8 assists and 1.7 steals per game, but only played just 49 games due to groin, hamstring and knee injuries, and rookie forward Richard Dumas contributed 15.8 points and 1.8 steals per game, and was selected to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, despite only playing just 48 games due to injury; Dumas was drafted by the Suns in the 1991 NBA draft, but was suspended for all of the previous season for violating the NBA's substance abuse policy.

Meanwhile, Cedric Ceballos provided with 12.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, and also led the league with .576 in field-goal percentage, while Tom Chambers played a sixth man role off the bench, averaging 12.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, and Ainge contributed 11.8 points per game and 150 three-point field goals, also off the bench. Negele Knight contributed 6.1 points per game, but only played 52 games due to injury, first-round draft pick Oliver Miller from the University of Arkansas provided with 5.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and led the team with 1.8 blocks per game off the bench, and starting center Mark West averaged 5.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.

Barkley and Majerle were both selected for the 1993 NBA All-Star Game in Salt Lake City, Utah, with Westphal coaching the Western Conference. Majerle finished tied in fifth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting, while Ceballos finished tied in eleventh place in Most Improved Player voting, Ainge finished tied in second place in Sixth Man of the Year voting, with Chambers finishing in fifth place, and Westphal finished in fourth place in Coach of the Year voting.

In the Western Conference First Round of the 1993 NBA playoffs, the Suns faced elimination as they trailed 2–0 against the 8th-seeded Los Angeles Lakers; however, they won the next three games, including a 112–104 overtime home win in Game 5 to advance in the Western Conference Semi-finals, where they defeated the 5th-seeded San Antonio Spurs in six games. In the Western Conference finals, they defeated the Seattle SuperSonics in a full seven-game series, and reached the NBA Finals for the second time in franchise history. In the 1993 NBA Finals, the Suns lost to Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and the 2-time defending champion Chicago Bulls in six games. Following the season, Chambers signed as a free agent with the Utah Jazz.

This season saw the debut of the new "Streaking Sun" logo alongside a changed shade of purple, which was featured on the front of the team's new jerseys. The new primary logo and uniforms would both remain in use until 2000. The season was also the Suns first at the new America West Arena (currently known as "Footprint Center"). The new arena had a regular season attendance of 779,943 in 41 home games, the fifth highest total attendance in the league. The team sold-out the capacity 19,023 arena every game of the season.

This was the last time the Suns would reach the NBA Finals until the 2020–21 season.