Many have been big on the Phoenix Suns‘ chances of winning the NBA championship this season, and some even consider them the favorites to come out of the Western Conference.
After all, they have brought in Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal in recent months in order to give Devin Booker lots of support.
But after they blew a 12-point fourth-quarter lead and lost to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday, the Suns are 1-1, and the optimism surrounding them has been hampered just a bit.
One reason for that is the fact that Beal has missed both of their first two games, while Booker was unable to play on Thursday.
Both are listed as doubtful for Saturday’s contest against the Utah Jazz.
Suns star Bradley Beal (back) will miss Saturday’s home opener vs. Jazz and Devin Booker (foot) is expected to be doubtful to play for second straight game.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 28, 2023
Fans took to Twitter to react to the news.
I speak for myself when I say I did not expect them to fall apart this fast 😭
— Ethical Hoops🏆 (only takes Ws) (@EthicalHoopz) October 28, 2023
this is y’all favorites to win??🤣🤣
— 🪣. (@MasterSage_) October 28, 2023
There are some legitimate health concerns about Phoenix’s three stars — Durant is injury-prone at this point of his career, while Beal and Booker haven’t appeared in at least 70 games since the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, respectively.
what are the odds their big 3 all play exactly 65 games
— free ja (@drivesIowly) October 28, 2023
A couple of fans think Beal and Booker aren’t actually hurt and that they and the Suns are trying to circumvent the NBA’s new rules that are designed to crack down on “load management.”
So the load management rules don’t exist anymore?
— ⭑ 🥽 (@wixkstars) October 28, 2023
The new rule isn’t working
— Nathan (@jakeIayman) October 28, 2023
The Phoenix Load Managements
— KingsMuse (@kings_muse) October 28, 2023
Due to the Suns’ suspect depth, a long-term injury to even one of their three stars could prove to be a near-fatal blow to their championship hopes.
The rest of the Western Conference will be much better than it was last season when 45 wins was good enough for them to finish fourth in the Western Conference.
This season, 45 wins would likely mean a play-in tournament spot and a real possibility of missing the playoffs given the immense depth throughout the conference.
NEXT:
Insider Reveals Latest Suns Injury Update For Saturday
