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Rivalries. They’re stitched into the very fabric of sports, passed down like family heirlooms and carried like scars. If you root for a team, any team, you’ve got a rival. It’s part of the deal. And after 58 years of basketball, the Phoenix Suns have picked up more than a few.
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Some of those rivalries were born from sheer repetition. Same teams, same divisions, same geography. You see them four times a year, sometimes more. A little familiarity, a little animosity, and soon you’re circling dates on calendars. That’s how the Lakers came to be that team for many Suns fans; always close, always looming, always just a little more smug than you’d like. The Clippers? They’ve had their turn, too. The postseason battles in the past two decades have left bruises that don’t fade easy.
Then there are the rivalries forged in fire. Playoff wars, heartbreak, and missed chances. The kind that leaves something behind long after the final buzzer. The Spurs. The Mavericks. Names that still make your stomach twist, even if it’s been years since the last real fight. Dallas gave us Game 7 humiliation. San Antonio gave us years of torment. You don’t forget that. Not in this town.
And yet, as the league evolves and eras shift, new enemies emerge. Denver. Minnesota. Young blood with new stakes. It begs the question: what defines a rivalry now? Is it shared history or recent tension? Is it regional heat or playoff pain?
So who is the Phoenix Suns’ biggest rival? The Lakers, with all their glitz and arrogance? The Clippers, divisional foes with a shared modern history? The Mavericks, whose name alone still stings? The Spurs, who denied a generation of Suns their moment? Or someone newer, someone rising?
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