PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns' four wins against the Denver Nuggets brought a large group of fans together to welcome the team home at Sky Harbor Sunday night.
A sea of purple and orange shirts, flags and hand-made posters decorated a tunnel of fans that lined up on both sides of the street outside Cutter Aviation around 11:30 p.m. near 24th Street and Interstate 10.
The Suns’ 11 years in the making winning streak created a sense of hope and yearn for many fans who have longed for a victory as the team now heads to the Western Conference Finals.
“They are such a team, so everyone is rallying around everyone on the team,” said Tyler Vasquez, co-creator of BirdGang Travel Club, the Arizona Cardinals fan group.
Shortly after the Suns clinched their semifinal victory, Vasquez and his club co-creator Eric Polansky took to social media to invite fans to welcome the team home, after getting details about the team’s plane arrival to the Valley.
“When I got there, there were about 50 fans,” said Vasquez. “But every time you turned around more and more were walking up and next thing we know there’s like 300 to 400 fans all in one spot ready to say ‘hey’ to the team.”
The plane’s waiting period began with confusion as Bird Gang initially told fans to gather on the south side of Swift aviation, the wrong company, but ended up with fans fist-pumping some of the players that were vividly surprised by the gathered crowd.
“Honestly it’s the first time I see someone, like an athlete like that,” said Antonio Perez, one of the many fans taking pictures and videos as each of the Sun’s players left the airport in their respective cars.
Deondre Ayton, Devon Booker, Cameron Payne and even head coach Monty Williams and Suns owner Robert Sarver were some of the team members taking a moment to interact with the many people who anxiously waited for their arrival.
“I feel amazing,” said Deondre Ayton as he drove past the row of fans. “Our fans, it’s the fans, that’s motivating us.”
Booker also rode in the back seat of his car, as his dog named Haven, a roughly 140-pound Cane Corso sat in the front passenger seat and said, “I love these fans, look at this.”
“I feel good,” shouted Cameron Payne as he drove his flashing red Corvette. “I love the suns fans, I love them yes sir,” he added.
Fans of all ages surrounded each passing car cheering on the team, despite being a late Sunday night.
“My wife showed me on Facebook and I was like ‘let’s go!’ I got the kids ready and said ‘let’s do this!’,” said Joseph Rivera. “I work at four in the morning, I’m a die-hard Suns fan, so it’s worth it.”
As the Suns still have another mountain to climb to reach victory, Suns team owner Robert Sarver said he was very happy where the team stood but adding “we got eight more to go.”
BirdGang Travel Club is now considering creating a similar group for the Phoenix Suns in hopes of not just rallying the Valley at home, but also as the team hits the road.
“Everyone wants something to cheer for and at the end of the day, they are giving us something to cheer for,” said Vasquez. “So that is definitely appreciated and obviously through last night’s [homecoming] reciprocated.”
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