Eclips of the Suns

SHOW DECK

STORY

It was ugly to behold. For one thing, the case was apparently built largely on the word of players who may have turned on their teammates in order to save their own hides.

For another, there was the possibility that gambling was part of the sordid mess. That this nightmare was afflicting the Phoenix Suns, for 19 years the adored hometown heroes in a city with no other major league franchise, made the situation all the sadder.

Last Friday Phoenix law-enforcement officials announced that five current or former Suns players had been indicted for drug-related offenses and that six other present or former Suns players were linked to the case. The indictments returned by a Maricopa County grand jury charged nine men with 21 felony counts of possessing or trafficking in cocaine or marijuana or conspiring to do so. A 10th man was charged with obstruction of justice.