I can’t end the season without acknowledging the Bright Side Baller of the Year.
The season has officially flatlined for the Phoenix Suns, and I’ve entered the postmortem phase. Whether it’s Tracking 40 or spelunking into bizarre statistical rabbit holes, I’m doing my due diligence to tie a bow on this strange, spiraling campaign—mostly so I can chuck it over my shoulder and never look back.
You know me. I love to draw parallels between the Suns and the music I listen to. As if every loss, every lineup change, every glimmer of hope fading in the fourth quarter has a lyric out there waiting to soundtrack it.
That’s why I’ve always loved music. It’s the most relatable art form we have. It’s universal, consistent, and forever echoing back what we’re feeling. Whether you’ve got love or you’re aching for it, whether you’re building something or watching it collapse, there’s always a song that gets it. That speaks for you when you can’t find the words. Somewhere between the melodies and harmonies, you’re reminded that you’re not alone. You’re not the first to feel this way. And unfortunately for Suns fans…probably not the last either.
All of that being said, there’s one lyric that’s been echoing in my head all week long—looping like a record that refuses to be flipped. It comes from a 1968 track by The Doors, a band that specialized in existential dread and psychedelic clarity. The song is The Unknown Soldier, and the line?
“Breakfast where the news is read / Television children fed / Unborn living, living dead.”
It’s haunting. It’s layered. And for whatever reason, it feels like the perfect metaphor for the state of Suns basketball right now. A loop of routine and noise. A broadcast of narratives spoon-fed to the masses. Hope sold in preseason promos and buried by April. The unborn living, living dead? I mean…tell me that’s not how it felt watching this team coast to 36 wins in a year meant for banners.
That lyric, like this season, doesn’t offer clarity. It offers a mirror. And unfortunately, we’ve all had to look into it.
“And, it’s all over/ The war is over/ It’s all over”
That’s right. The war is over. Finally. Mercifully. This fever dream of a season has reached its blurry, bittersweet end. But before I can close the book, toss it on the shelf, and pretend I didn’t dog-ear half the pages in frustration, there’s one last bit of business.
We need to crown the final Bright Side Baller.
In fitting fashion, the Suns wrapped the season by getting their teeth kicked in by the Sacramento Kings. Lost by double digits, of course. Because how else would it end? But amidst the wreckage, it was Ryan Dunn who rose from the rubble. He earned 50% of the vote and snagged his eighth Bright Side Baller of the season, leapfrogging Bradley Beal’s seven and securing third place overall.
That leaves us with our podium:
And so, with zero fanfare but a ton of respect, we raise our metaphorical glass to Devin Booker, the 2024–25 Bright Side Baller of the Year. In a season full of more plot holes than a late-night conspiracy theory thread, it was Booker who consistently brought it. He showed up. He showed out. He gave us something to cheer about when everything else felt…dim.
Congratulations, Book. You impressed the unimpressable. You made bad basketball watchable. You gave us a reason to keep filling out the poll the following morning.
Cheers. It’s all over.
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