Suns Still Haunted By Playoff Series vs. Spurs

The incident triggered suspensions for Amar'e Stoudemire and Boris Diaw, two key Suns that the team relied on heavily during that era. Without them, Mike D'Antoni played a six-man rotation against the Spurs in Game 5 (with three minutes from reserve center Pat Burke). They lost by three points at home to go down 3-2 in the series before losing Game 6 and the series.

CBS Sports writer Brad Botkin looked into what could have happened if the Suns didn't have Stoudemire and Diaw suspended.

"The pace-and-space style of play was coming to the NBA as a whole with or without the Suns, but even as late as 2015, with the emergence of the Warriors, the basketball world was still skeptical that this run-and-gun style of play could actually net a championship," Botkin wrote.

"Had the Suns won, which it really does feel like they would have if these suspensions didn't happen, that doubt would've been erased, especially if they had done so with a middling defense. It wasn't fair. But it was the letter of the law, and it bit the Suns at the worst possible time."

Not only would a Phoenix series win have given the NBA a different champion in 2007 (possibly the Suns), but it could have brought on the high-pace style of play into the league a little sooner, which would have completely altered the history of basketball as we know it.