[This article is a little different from the hundreds of others published on this blog. It’s pulled from the August 1999 issue of Fastbreak Magazine, the official publication of the Phoenix Suns. Writer Jim Brewer introduces fans to the Suns’ top draft pick, Shawn Marion out of UNLV. Normally, I wouldn’t reprise a here’s-our-top-draft pick story. They can be pretty perfunctory reads. But Brewer does a nice job, and Marion is such an unusual player. It’s makes for good reading to retell his rise to the NBA, if only in brief.
Marion would have a solid rookie season in Phoenix, appearing in 51 games (he had some injuries) and averaging 24.7 minutes, 10.2 points, and 6.5 rebounds per outing. Good enough for the NBA All-Rookie second team in 2000. He also would float ‘like a freshly laundered cotton sheet” for most of his 16 NBA seasons, nine of them in Phoenix. Here’s to Shawn Marion, the ninth pick in the 1999 NBA Draft.]
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Shawn Marion doesn’t move. At least not that you can tell with the naked eye. Don’t misunderstand, he gets from one spot on the basketball court to another about as quickly as anyone you’ll ever see; but then again, you don’t really see him move. Marion’s body floats above the hardwood like a freshly laundered cotton sheet billowing in a breeze, long arms and legs gliding about without touching the floor.
The Phoenix Suns selected Marion with the ninth overall pick in the summer’s draft to bolster the athleticism of an already talented roster. After watching the 6-feet-7, 216-pound swingman during the club’s late-July Rookie/Free Agent Camp and the annual Rocky Mountain Revue tournament, two words come to mind—mission accomplished.
The Pick
The team obviously didn’t need to see Marion at summer camp to recognize his athletic ability. After studying film of him during his last season at Nevada-Las Vegas and bringing him in for a pre-draft workout and interview, the athleticism was obvious. He actually broke a couple of team records during jumping and running drills while visiting.
“He has the athleticism we talked about needing with our team,” says Suns head coach Danny Ainge. “He has a knack of scoring around the paint. He can defend, he can play the shooting guard spot, or he can play small forward.”
In the months leading up to the draft, Marion’s name wasn’t widely known in the media or among fans. It was, however, on the speed dial of scouts and personnel people throughout the NBA. His draft status seemed to skyrocket from late-first rounder to mid-first rounder to lottery pick in a matter of weeks as he made the tour around the league for individual workouts.
“He’s a guy that we had pegged for a while,” Ainge says. “And the more we studied him, the more we talked, and the more games we watched of all the players that were available in the draft, he just kept sliding up on everybody’s list. Then he comes in here and has a great workout. We had one scout, one of our main scouts, who ranked him number one in the whole draft. So, he’s an intriguing player.”
Intriguing, if not necessarily widely known.
“He may not have been as highly rated (as others in the draft), but that doesn’t discourage us from rating players the way we feel they should be drafted,” says Suns executive vice president and general manager, Brian Colangelo.
“Our entire scouting department was in agreement that if we were able to get a guy like Shawn Marion (with the ninth pick), we were going to be very happy. We always try to come to a consensus about who is going to fit for us, and Shawn Marion was that guy.”
After coming to Phoenix in June, Marion began to get some inkling that the Suns were interested. “Well, they liked me a lot when I came out here to work out,” he says. “They had some of the top prospects in the draft up here, and I did real well against them. I guess that made a big impression.”
Enough of an impression for the Suns to make Marion their highest draft pick—which was a lottery pick obtained in a 1998 draft day deal that also brought Pat Garrity to Phoenix in exchange for Steve Nash—in over a decade. Heady stuff for a 21-year-old junior who passed up a chance to turn pro following his sophomore year at Vincennes University, a small junior college in Indiana, instead deciding to attend UNLV.
The Progress
Marion arrived in Las Vegas as a heralded recruit, the cream of Coach Billy Bayno’s Runnin’ Rebels crop. His tenure at Vincennes had been a two-year highlight film of juco success—enough success that he almost didn’t make it to Vegas.
As a freshman out of Clarksville (Tenn.) High School, Marion averaged 23.3 points and 12.8 rebounds per contest, while shooting an amazing .596 from the floor. His frosh efforts earned him second team Junior College All-America honors.
During his sophomore year, Marion posted averages of 23.5 points, 13.1 boards, 2.9 blocks, and 2.0 steals, while leading the Trailblazers to a 31-5 record and fifth place in the National Junior, College Athletic Association Tournament. In that tournament, he set a record for rebounds with 68 in five games and sealed the fifth-place finish with a 37-point, 15-rebound effort in his final juco game.
All of this naturally caught the attention of major college and professional scouts. “I’m very happy with my decision to go to UNLV, and it gave me an opportunity to get better at the Division I level and improve my stock for the NBA,” he says. “Obviously, things have worked out.”
Bayno, for one, was also thrilled with Marion’s decision, even though he knew the young man’s stay might be a short one. “We had talked about it when we first started recruiting Shawn,” Bayno told the Las Vegas Sun. “The fact is, he was ready to go pro when he was (at Vincennes). But Shawn thought he could wait a year.
“Shawn’s a special player. What I love the most about him is his attitude. He’s so unselfish. He loves to play and loves to win.”
Play he did at UNLV—and play well—but wins were hard to come by for the perennial Western Athletic Conference powerhouse. In his only season under Bayno, Marion led the Rebels in scoring (18.7 ppg) and rebounding (9.3 rpg), while shooting .529 from the field and earning WAC All-Conference first team and All-Defensive Team honors. In an incredible effort against Texas Christian on February 22, he scored 34 points, grabbed 21 boards, and swiped six steals in a four-point Rebel loss, Indicative of how much of the year at UNLV progressed.
In only one season, Marion had established himself as a force on the major-college level. For the young swingman, the time was finally right to take his show on the NBA road.
The Professional
Whatever accolades a player may accumulate in college, however well he may perform pre-draft after workouts or camps, there is simply no substitute for seeing and believing. There’s nothing like having a player perform before your eyes in a competitive professional situation to put proof in the pudding. On cue, Marion served up a heaping helping to all who saw him in his first chance at “pro” ball.
Although the numbers must be considered against the backdrop of lesser competition than found in the NBA, the Rocky Mountain Revue does certainly feature a higher level of talent than college. With the rugged peaks, the Suns’ brass, and a large number of NBA scouts looking on, Marion was the Suns’ leading scorer and rebounder in the Revue, tallying 16.0 and 7.6 boards per game. He also added 3.8 assists and 1.4 blocks per contest while shooting .416 from the field (32-of-77) and .875 from the line (14-of-16).
Not a bad debut by any scope of measurement.
Even though it was Marion’s first exposure to professional competition, it wasn’t his first exposure to the life of the Suns. While at Vincennes, Marion traveled with his team to the Valley of the Sun for a tournament at Mesa Community College. Vincennes coach Danny Sparks, a friend of Suns executive Dick Van Arsdale, arranged for his club to watch the Suns practice.
“It was real cool,” Marion says. “That was when (the Suns) first got Jason Kidd, and he had his collarbone injury. We all took pictures with him out in the hallway and watched all of them practice. I’ve still got the photo.”
From photos standing with Jason Kidd in the hallways of the American West Arena to action shots of him flying down court with Kidd getting ready to launch a no-look pass in his direction, it’s a transition that Marion is anxious to make.
“He’s going to help me exploit my game even more,” Marion says with more than a note of excitement. “He’s going to want to pick up the pace, and I think I can keep up with him.” Then, with a grin full of mischief, Marion adds, “I might even pass him up once in a while.”
Marion may get that chance soon enough. On draft day, Ainge and Colangelo flirted with talk that their new draftee might just be able to step in and play significant minutes in his rookie campaign. This may be chalked up to draft day excitement, but a starting spot wasn’t out of the question, if you listened to the Suns’ brain trust.
With the club’s recent blockbuster acquisition of Penny Hardaway, however, any talk of the rookie starting may be moot. But the hope that Marion can contribute this upcoming season remains.
“Every rookie needs to work on certain things, and Shawn does, too,” says Van Arsdale. “But I always like players who can play both ends of the court, and I think he is a young man who will be able to contribute offensively while also giving us a boost defensively.”
While the addition of Hardaway may initially siphon playing time that may have gone to Marion, it will also allow him to ease into the NBA on a team that was already talented before the trade for Penny.
“There’s no pressure on Shawn,” Ainge says. “We’ve got good players. He doesn’t have to come in and carry us. He just has to go out and play hard and play basketball like he’s always done. I think there’s a spot for him to earn, and I think every rookie wants that opportunity.”
The key for Marion is taking advantage of the opportunities. The fluid motion and ability to soar through the air may come naturally, but making it in the NBA requires more. The willingness to work hard and capitalize on natural ability is what will set Marion apart.
“I just want to go out there and play ball, play hard every night,” Marion says. “I’ll try to play to the best of my ability every time I go out on the floor.”
From Way Downtown 