TTM Triumph: Alvan Adams

It's been almost two months since my last success was shown, during that time I've received six or seven more positive returns. Today's card is probably my favorite of those returns:

After three years at Oklahoma, where he had set many a school record (most of which have since been broken), Alvan left after his Junior year to enter the NBA Draft, which him being selected by Phoenix with the fourth overall pick in the 1975 draft.

Even though he had a very successful 13-year career (all with Phoenix), Alvan is best remembered for his rookie season in which he averaged 19.0 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 5.6 apg, 1.5 spg, and 1.5 bpg -- making his lone all-star appearance, and winning Rookie of the Year honors.

That 1975-76 season was not only memorable for Suns fans because of Alvan's debut, but also because of the team's unexpected playoff success. Their record of 42-40 gave the Suns the number three seed in the west, which meant they had a first round bye (this is back when only five teams made the playoffs in each conference). Their first playoff action saw them upset the number two seeded Seattle Supersonics in six games. That win sent them on to the conference finals where they would face the previous season's champion, and owner's of the number one seed, the Golden State Warriors. In a strongly contested, and often heated series, the Suns would emerge victorious, defeating the heavily favored Warriors in seven games.

Going to the NBA finals for the first time in franchise history, the team would meet up with a much more experienced Boston Celtics team, who eventually go on to take the series in six games. As an aside, game 5 of that series, the famous triple overtime game at the Garden, is still considered by many to be the greatest game in NBA history.

As always, many thanks to Mr. Adams for taking the time to sign my card. With his card, I now have 22 cards from the 1978-79 Topps set signed.


Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.