It was 2005 and Earl Watson was a fourth-year NBA point guard unaware that the playoff visit would be his last for nine more years and that it would be so fleeting.
As his Memphis Grizzlies went down in a first-round sweep to the Suns, Watson also did not realize what he witnessed then with Shawn Marion at power forward was revolutionizing the way NBA teams play. Now as interim head coach, Watson sits in the Suns bench seat that Mike D’Antoni then held.
“He (D’Antoni) was unique to do it,” Watson said. “I think the league is just now catching up to how Phoenix created the trend.