The Suns gave us a flash of hope before pulling the rug once again.
It’s done.
The Phoenix Suns’ season, for all intents and purposes, is dead on arrival, its body still twitching with two meaningless games left on the schedule. But the soul? Long gone. What remains is little more than embarrassment, bewilderment, and that familiar Suns-flavored sense of existential dread.
Wednesday night’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder wasn’t a heartbreaker. That implies the presence of a heart. No, this one was surgical. Clean. Cold. Clinical. It was the final nail in a coffin we’ve all been trying not to look at directly for weeks.
The game started like so many others this season: a flash of promise, a flirtation with potential, a tease. 39 points in the first quarter. A high that felt unsustainable, because it was. The Suns giveth, and the Suns taketh away. Like a beautifully wrapped box filled with nothing but sand.
We’re all ready for this season to end. So what do the Suns do? Score 39 in the first against the best team in the NBA.
There’s no way to truly describe how frustrating this team is.
— John Voita, III (@DarthVoita) April 10, 2025
And as I sit here, swimming in this cloud of melancholy, I find myself reaching for the Smashing Pumpkins playlist. “Disarm” echoes like a eulogy in my headphones. “Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage.” This was a season built on the illusion of control. Of cohesion. Of championship aspirations. And now all that’s left is noise.
We’ll spend the coming days — and if we’re honest, the entire goddamn summer — trying to autopsy this thing. We’ll point fingers, propose trades, dream new dreams. But none of that changes the feeling right now.
Right now, it’s pure Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. We’re all just trying to make sense of the static.
Yes, there are still two games to play. Two more Bright Side Ballers to hand out. But spiritually, the page has turned. The curtain has fallen. And what lingers is the sigh of a season that never truly knew itself.
This was the season of shimmering illusions. Of stars misaligned. Of a team that looked like a promise, but played like a question mark. Tonight, I don’t want analysis. I want distortion pedals and angst. I want to sit in the dark, close my eyes, and let Billy Corgan sing me to sleep. Because that, at least, feels honest.
Bright Side Baller Season Standings
No one won a BSB for Tuesday’s night of heartless, gutless, lackadaisical effort.
Bright Side Baller Nominees
Bradley Beal
25 points (8-of-17, 4-of-8 3PT), 1 rebound, 4 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, +0 +/-
Devin Booker
20 points (9-of-20, 0-of-4 3PT), 6 rebounds, 14 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers, -12 +/-
Collin Gillespie
17 points (6-of-9, 3-of-6 3PT), 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 0 turnovers, +4 +/-
Ryan Dunn
13 points (5-of-11, 3-of-8 3PT), 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 turnover, -17 +/-
Tyus Jones
10 points (4-of-8, 2-of-4 3PT), 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 0 turnovers, -7 +/-
Royce O’Neale
11 points (4-of-9, 3-of-8 3PT), 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 1 turnover, +0 +/-
Vote. Or don’t. Whatever.
Listen to our latest podcast episode in the player below, and to stay up to date on every episode, subscribe to the Suns JAM Session podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, YouTube Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox.
Please subscribe, rate, and review.