PHOENIX — When you look at the current state of Valley sports, it feels fairly safe to say that it would not be what it currently is if not for the work of one man, "The Godfather of Arizona Sports:" Jerry Colangelo.
Colangelo has been a major figure in Valley sports since he came to Phoenix in 1968 to become the general manager of the Phoenix Suns. He later went on to be the head coach of the team, president and owner.
But that's not all Colangelo did. He was the original owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks, bringing them to the Valley as an expansion team in 1995 — they began play in 1998 — and was part of the founding committee for the WNBA along with owning the Phoenix Mercury, one of that league's original franchises.
Colangelo also owned the Arizona Rattlers, who are the reigning champions of the Indoor Football League, and the Continental Indoor Soccer League's Arizona Sandsharks.
Colangelo is also a renowned businessman and is the namesake of the College of Business at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix.
12Sports journalist Cameron Cox got the chance to sit down with Colangelo recently for a one-on-one interview where they spoke about the passing of the longtime Voice of the Suns, Al McCoy, the current state of the Suns, how Colangelo brought Major League Baseball to the Valley and much more. You can read the interview below.
Some questions and answers have been lightly edited for clarity.
CAMERON COX: Well, Jerry, first of all, it's, it's good to see you. I have to ask what you up to these days and how's life?
JERRY COLANGELO: Life is great and I'm always busy because my attitude is, I better keep going forward because people are catching up to me.
CC: It never stops, right?
JC: Never, never stops.
CC: The reason, one of the main reasons I wanted to talk to you today is your friend, Al (McCoy). It was hard to watch the other night because you just kept thinking about Al. As this season has kind of started, what, what has come to mind when you’ve thought of your friend, Al McCoy?
JC: Well, obviously the fact that he's no longer with us is what comes to mind and then you reminisce. You think about the 50-plus years that he was a big... feature of the Phoenix Suns. And I mean, I owe him so much and I've shared that in some of the comments I've made about he and his life and especially to his family.
He more than anyone else who's ever been associated with the Phoenix Suns, we've had a lot of great players and coaches who are here and are gone, but Al is the MVP. He's the one who sold the game. He's the one who sold the sport. Not only in Phoenix, but the entire southwest. He became known as maybe the best play-by-play guy in the business, and that's coming from one of the greats of all time Chick Hearn, by way of example.
When Al came to the Hall of Fame, where I'm still chairman, and he was honored, and it brought tears to my eyes because I remember back when, when we started the whole thing and when he joined us and what he contributed. So, it was a very proud moment.
CC: Do you remember meeting him? What was that first meeting like this, this farm boy from Iowa?
JC: Well, I remember when I first saw him, it didn't jive that that voice was attached to that small little body. But he said he worked at developing his voice, really kind of an interesting scenario when you think about it. But almost immediately, you know, he was going to be the guy. I just felt that way. That was the sound I wanted our fans to hear and people who might be interested.
And, you know, I travel this summer as I usually do and I was in Europe. When he passed, I had numbers of people who I bumped into you know, be it in airports or train stations. They all remembered Al. By that I mean, they had some connection with the state or basketball and they were aware. So, he was not only known, it was big time on a local basis, certainly domestically everywhere. And beyond that too.
CC: The soundtrack of basketball. That's pretty neat to have your name attached to that. Do you have a favorite Al story over the years? I've heard stories about him playing the piano. I've talked to his barber who I think cuts your hair too as well from time to time. Do you have a favorite story that comes to mind when, when you think about your 50-plus years of friendship with Al?
JC: I'd rather categorize it this way. I remember all the road trips early on. I was taking road trips either when I was coaching and he was calling play-by-play or with new coaches and I would kind of hang out with them on the road, break them in. And so we spent a — I spent a lot of time with Al on the road and going to the piano bars, giving him the opportunity to play his jazz music and he was good. He was a very talented musician. (It) was, was a great memory.
His times with Joe Proski, our trainer, who's a Damon Runyon kind of a character on his own, and the two of them were like inseparable and so there's a lot of stories, some of which I can't even mention. But anyway, he was a bigger than life personality, referring to Al, he was bigger than life in terms of his reach because of how good he was at his trade and he was as loyal as people could possibly be. He lived and... bled rather, purple and orange, that's for sure.
CC: What do you make of the Al patch on the jerseys this year by the Suns?
JC: I think it's a great tribute to him. I think it was a classic, first-class move on the part of the present ownership and management and I'm very pleased about that.
CC: When you kind of look at what the Suns are doing now, are you proud? Is your baby is kind of in great hands and is succeeding?
JC: Yes. When you give birth to something like I did, and that was the Phoenix Suns, and spend as many years as I did, you know, it's part of my fiber, you know, in terms of my concern, my interest, my support, et cetera. It's like giving birth to a child and watching them grow into adulthood and so on and so forth.
And I think the franchise is in good hands. The willingness to spend money, which is what it's all about, because what fans really want is to win.
CC: That’s what you did. You did whatever it took. You did the same thing.
JC: That was my philosophy and some people don't have that philosophy. So, I think it's a great situation. I like the talent we have on this team. It's gonna be a push, you know, we have to be able to defend and rebound in a very tough league and so size could be an issue, but we'll see, we've got some great offensive weapons.
It's gonna be an exciting team to see play all year long. So, you know, I’m running out of time, I want to see that championship come sooner rather than later.
CC: I think we all want to see that here. Could you imagine what that parade would be like in the Valley? I mean, you guys, what you guys did when you finished second to the (Chicago) Bulls (in 1993) was incredible, but to win it, it would be unbelievable.
JC: Well, we had 300,000 people (at the parade) then, double, triple that because I'm sure it would be really something. Unbelievable.
CC: I wanted to pick your brain about (Kevin Durant) real quick. If you don't mind, you've known Kevin for a long time, and I feel like he's such a talented player, but I think people misunderstand his style of leadership. What have you seen over the years, KD, the type of leader and person that he is.
JC: First of all, I've known him since he was a freshman at Texas. You know, they played at our arena his freshman year. I saw him at the end of that season at the Final Four, had a conversation with him about USA Basketball and he was wide-eyed and bushy-tailed and looking forward to it and he came and he's been terrific.
One of the great, greatest players to ever don a USA uniform. Look at what he has accomplished in terms of gold medals. And he's a great guy. He's a quiet leader. He doesn't do it with verbal leadership, once in a while, but he does it by performance. And people look up to him, his teammates look up to him because when the pressure is on and something has to be done, get him the ball because that's how you lead.
CC: And how many times have we seen that?
JC: Many, many times and we're going to see many more times.
CC: What do you think Devin Booker's impact has been to this Valley?
JC: Devin came here as a young guy, very young coming out of Kentucky and he paid his dues and he became one of the outstanding two guards in the league, without a doubt. He's a scorer, he's a great shooter, and he definitely leads by performance. And so I have great respect for Devin and he still has a lot of years left.
CC: There's been a lot of players in like the Valley has wrapped their arms around, Walter Davis, Connie Hawkins, Paul Westfall, Charles Barkley, Steve (Nash). He's the next guy that's, have you seen that embrace this community and kind of we’ve wrapped our arms around him and he's done the same thing to our community too.
JC: Yes, I think that's absolutely true because out of each group comes someone who has sustainability, who's with the franchise for a number of years and then the ball is in their court. There's great opportunity because the people here have always been so welcome. They want to embrace their own and rally around them. So, it's a great marriage for Devin in this marketplace. He's loved by the fans, I think in return, he loves the fans and loves this marketplace. So, it's the best of both worlds.
CC: Do you get out to watch a game a lot or how often do you get to go?
JC: I don’t say a lot. I watch the games all the time, most of the time in the comfort of my own home because of making it much easier for me because I'm still doing a workload in terms of business... but I'm on top of it, I don't think much goes on that I'm not aware of.
CC: There we go. The D-backs, Jerry, if you don't mind, I want to pick your brain on them. What's it been like to see them kind of find success once again too, as well?
JC: Well, there again, you know, having given birth to the D-backs and having a short run in baseball, total of 10 years, but a four-year run where we won three divisional titles and a World Series. I have great relationships with the people that played for me back then. I care about the franchise very much.
They represent the city, they represent the state and I'm not sorry that we went ahead even though the Major League Baseball put the kibosh on us, just at the last minute by charging more money than we were told and, put some pressure on me in, in the early years. But couldn't be happier for the community because they've stayed with the franchise. It's a very competitive team. I think they have very good management, (I) like the manager (Torey Lovullo) very much and the GM (Mike Hazen) and they have the nucleus of a very good team.
CC: I know there's some drama with the stadium. How much would you love to see all that get worked out and them just to stay at Chase Field for the future?
JC: Well, you know, that was then, and this is now, you know, when we made the deal with the, with the county, that was the way it was and we felt that there was going to be a good 25-year run and that's really what it's been. So are there things that need to happen? Absolutely. But that's between the two groups to negotiate and get it done.
Baseball is very important to our community, to our city, to our state. The powers that be, who control the purse strings, have to be very cognizant of how the fans, what the community really wants. And so there has to be a commitment to get things done to ensure that Major League Baseball has another 25 or 50 years. So, let's hope and pray that they can work it out.
CC: And then real quick, back to the very beginning, Jerry, how did baseball get here? What was the original thought? How did that all go down at the very beginning?
JC: Well, you mentioned a few minutes ago the parade that took place in downtown Phoenix in 1993 after the Suns and Bulls finished their championship run. Joe Garagiola Jr. and Jim Bruner, who was a member of the county Board of Supervisors, came to me the next day after the parade
CC: After heartbreak, after the parade, still trying to digest all that, right?
JC: And they said, look, we think it's time for baseball. We think you're the one who can get it done. Would you be willing to take the lead? And my first thought was, you know, my plate's full and baseball has some issues and they did, you know that there was a break in play.
CC: I was about to say that was right around the (1994) lockout or before.
JC: The lockout. And I said, well, look, I know what it could do to our community if we had it. And what about a building? There's no building. You can't play in the heat. And I was told that there was something on the books down at the state legislature put in by a legislator who is a baseball fan that there would be a vehicle to help support the building of a stadium. I never even knew that until I was advised. And so I said, well, look, let me think about it. Well, I immediately call people in baseball that I knew (George) Steinbrenner, (the owner of) the (New York) Yankees, Jerry Reinsdorf for the White Sox, the ownership people. Bud Selig, who was the owner at Milwaukee at the time before he became commissioner and so forth. They all encouraged me and said we would love to have you in baseball. We'll support you.
CC: And those are the biggest names. Like those are the names that get stuff done.
JC: So I met with an author, John Helyar of the Wall Street Journal. He wrote a book called "Lords of the Realm." And basically, it was a collective bargaining 101 primer. If you read the book, you would come to understand why baseball was in such bad shape. The reason was the owners lost every negotiation with the union. So they had them up against the wall. But I thought my read on it was that it was about to turn and you might catch baseball at the right time starting to climb. So after that period of due diligence, I made the announcement, we were gonna do it. We're gonna go for it. And a year later, we were able to announce we had a baseball team.
CC: Isn't that crazy? How things like just a simple idea after what was probably the busiest, one of the busiest times of your life and don't even know if you can even make it happen. And then look at where it is now.
JC: I've always liked the action. I've always believed. If you believe in something, there's a good chance you could make it happen.
CC: Is there anything Jerry you're most proud of when you look back on, on your life and, and legacy in a sense?
JC: I'm very appreciative of how this community has supported me in the things that I've done in the community. And so, it's been really good for me. And I go back to my first trip here getting off an airplane and seeing a very small marketplace back in 1968 and thinking this is almost like a blank canvas. Anything that I might be able to get done would be like painting my own portrait. And to a large degree that was true.
In other words, I didn't have to qualify by being from the right side of the tracks back east, because that's the way the system works. It didn't matter here. This was a land of opportunity. It was an opened door for me and things worked out pretty well for everyone.
CC: Is it cool to see what the city is now? And just how large it is and people still moving. I mean, people live out there in Queen Creek and Eastmark and on the west side, it’s growing. I mean, Jerry, it's, it's unbelievable when you look at it.
JC: You know, I'm involved in a deal in the west side. That's a, it's a new city of 300,000 people. Now, I'm not gonna see it. My grandchildren will see that, but, uh it's an exciting place to be from or be here as part of. In downtown, which was nothing when I got here, I really did have a dream about downtown being what it is today, I did.
CC: Is it matching in a sense or?
JC: Well, in some ways, very much so. So it's exciting. I'm glad I'm still around to see a lot of this stuff come to fruition and, very happy for the people here.
CC: I want to ask you about two players and we'll get you out of here. Larry Fitzgerald, he was just honored the other day by Pitt. He's gonna go into the Hall of Fame, you know, at some point, they'll vote him in and as he should be a first ballot, but I'm sure you've had a chance to get to know him very well over the years. What has he meant to this Valley in your eyes?
JC: He's been everything to the Valley. Why? Because he's such an outstanding citizen. He's always carried himself as a Hall of Famer and he will be a Hall of Famer as a result of that. He paid his dues, he did his job. He was beloved by the fans and he always conducted himself in a first-class manner. You never had to worry about Larry making a mistake off the field by way of example. All good things come to people who do good things.
CC: Amen to that. And then DT, Diana Taurasi, we don't know if this is it for her last year or not, but she's been unbelievable to basketball. How would you sum up what she has meant to the game?
JC: I remember talking with her when we started the Mercury way back when and she was just a young gal and to think that all these years, what is it? 21 or 22 years? 21 years, amazing. And she's still, I think, going strong at her age. She can play, she can play another year, two, three, who knows? But it has to come from within, in other words, if her heart and her tummy is telling her it's time then that's what she should do. But people who love the WNBA, who love women's basketball, owe a great deal to her because she helped bring it to where it is today.
CC: And that's another thing, Jerry, that franchise, the growth that they've had too, as well. It's been unbelievable. Now, the practice facility that they have now, I mean, that's another thing that's growing the game too, women's basketball in general.
JC: Well, this year was a big year for the WNBA and it's almost as though this is at this stage in their history, it's been a launching pad this year to go forward. So I see very positive things going forward for the league.
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