“Guys were shooting air balls” – Danny Ainge claims Charles Barkley and the Suns succumbed to pressure in the 1993 NBA Finals against the Bulls originally appeared on Basketball Network.
The 1993 NBA Finals between the Chicago Bulls and the Phoenix Suns was deemed a mismatch. Though the Suns had a league-best 62-20 record, analysts still favored the two-time defending champion Bulls, led by Michael Jordan. The Bulls were simply the better and more experienced basketball squad.
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Did the Suns choke in Game 6?
The Suns’ relative inexperience hurt them the entire series, especially in Game 6. Suns shooting guard Danny Ainge recalls how nerves got the best of the squad in the final minutes. A win would’ve forced a winner-takes-all Game 7, but it seems that Charles Barkley and crew were not ready for prime time.
“I remember in Game 6, obviously, the nightmare shot that (John) Paxson hit over us,” Ainge told nba.com in 2013. “But I remember it seemed like 10, 15 possessions where we had open shots and we just couldn’t make shots. Guys were shooting air balls. We were getting quality looks, and we couldn’t make baskets, and that was really, really frustrating at that point. It was the whole team, we just could not score.”
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Every point matters in basketball, especially in a high-stakes contest like Game 6 of the 1993 NBA Finals. The Bulls struggled in the fourth quarter, scoring only 12 points compared to the Suns’ 19. History would’ve looked different if the Suns had knocked down even just a couple more shots in the fourth.
“If we could have just kept putting pressure on them with our offense there would have never been a last second opportunity,” Ainge continued. “That was our game and I felt that our offense in every game it seemed like had a tough time scoring against the great Bulls defense in the fourth quarter of games. I’m sure there are statistics to back that up, but I just remember that being the case.”
A controversial take
As they say, hindsight is 20/20. Twenty years is enough time to process a heartbreaking defeat. Ainge had broken down Game 6 over and over again in his mind and spotted what exactly went wrong for his team. Over the years, he learned to accept defeat and understand fate’s plan.
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Interestingly, Ainge had a drastically different mindset right after the loss. He had faced the Bulls in the 1992 NBA Finals as a member of the Portland Trail Blazers. Danny proclaimed Jordan’s squad was truly the best team at that time. However, after the 1993 Finals, Ainge had a different, more controversial view.
“Last year when we lost to Chicago (with Portland), there was no question in my mind who was the best team. I don’t have that same feeling today. This loss is going to be a lot harder to live with. I don’t believe the best team won,” he said.
Ainge’s take is understandable. He was at the tail end of his career during his Phoenix stint. He wanted to achieve the same level of success he had reached with the Boston Celtics. After their reign ended, Ainge jumped from team to team while the Bulls kept on rising to the top. It was too painful for Ainge to see the NBA’s changing of the guard right before his own eyes.
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This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 24, 2025, where it first appeared.