It’s a little after nine on Sunday morning. Summer is here in Phoenix. There’s a heat advisory around the city. It’s quite interesting witness thes hot days as an outsider. Everyone goes out and does their business in the first half of the day. After noon, there are not many cars on the roads, nobody’s on the sidewalks, and there’s no more landscapers clipping hedges.

Well last night the Suns lost game six against the Dallas Mavericks. So the season is over for us. Last night before we drove downtown to watch the game, I told Angela and Candyce that there are 60 teams, 60 cities of fans who wish they could be where we are today. So regardless of whether we win or lose, we need to enjoy this.

Candyce and I sitting at Majerle’s Sports Grill downtown next to the arena.

It was hard to lose the game, especially when we were up by 18 at one point. But when you get this far in the playoffs, the opponent is so good that you never have a safe lead. You can lose a lead even when you are playing excellent. The other team could just be playing more excellent.

After the game, the three of us walked over to the parking deck where the players pull out. It was a good feeling to see the other fans there, especially the families. It was fun to see dorky moms able to be excited about as their junior high daughters. There were black people, Mexicans, and whites. All the guys pulled out of the deck slowly and took time to give one final wave to the fans. Leandro Barbosa, Shawn Marion, Raja Bell, Boris Diaw, and Steve Nash. It was great.

We got home and watched the TNT post game show, and it was interesting to hear how different the guys talked about the Suns. I guess now it’s okay to say what they couldn’t say before, because people would think they were biased. But they are fans of the game too.

Charles Barkly slowed down and got a little reflective:

“It’s cool for me living here in Phoenix because I get to watch Steve Nash play a lot. Like I said earlier, if you don’t like Steve Nash, you don’t like basketball. He’s fun to watch. He’s a great guy.”

Magic Johnson is a smart, well-spoken man. Someone else could say the same words, but nobody can say it like Magic.

“Everybody in the league now wants to copy how Phoenix is playing. They are the most exciting to watch. Steve Nash is one of the most exciting players in the NBA. Also, he brought back now the true point guard to the game. I’m so happy Steve Nash is playing; so now everybody else is out; trying to get a Steve Nash so the game can be beautiful to watch again. Steve Nash makes the game fun, makes it beautiful. Especially point guards like me, thank you Steve Nash for an unbelievable season.”

This season has truly inspired me. The Suns were a team maligned with injuries that nobody thought would make it to the playoffs. But with Nash as a leader, the team was able to do more together than they could ever do by themselves. This makes me wonder if I’m doing a good job as a leader. Do I make the people around me better?