PHOENIX SUNS

Phoenix Suns legend Paul Westphal diagnosed with brain cancer

Aug 9, 2020, 12:17 PM | Updated: 12:30 pm

Enshrinee Paul Westphal gives his speech during the 2019 Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Cerem...

Enshrinee Paul Westphal gives his speech during the 2019 Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony at Symphony Hall on September 06, 2019 in Springfield, Massachusetts. (Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images)

(Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images)

Phoenix Suns legend Paul Westphal has been diagnosed with brain cancer.

ESPN Insider Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted Westphal’s longtime friend Mike Lupica revealed the news.

“With his permission, I am letting the basketball world know he has just been diagnosed with brain cancer,” Lupica said in a tweet. “Specifically, glioblastoma. Please pray for my friend, No. 44.”

Westphal was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame last year.

Westphal is a five-time NBA All-Star and played the best basketball of his career in Phoenix.

He came to the Valley in 1975 in a trade with the Boston Celtics for Charlie Scott.

Westphal went on to average 20 points per game in all five of his seasons with the Suns from 1976-80.

In three of his five seasons in the Valley, Westphal made First Team All-NBA and was also Second Team All-NBA for the 1977-78 season.

Following his career as a player, Westphal went on to be an assistant coach and later the head coach for the Suns. In four seasons as the team’s head coach, he tallied a 191-88 record.

He also coached for the Seattle Supersonics and Sacramento Kings.

Westphal was inducted into the Suns’ Ring of Honor in 1998 and is also a member of the USC Hall of Fame and Pac-12 Hall of Honor.

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