Phoenix Suns

Footprint Center sits in the heart of downtown Phoenix and the arena holds around 18,000. The building has been through some renovations and the downtown location puts it in the middle of a neighborhood that has genuinely grown around it. The Valley NBA crowd runs a specific demographic - transplants from everywhere, year-round residents who are deeply invested in what the Suns are doing, and visitors from the surrounding communities who make the drive in for big games.

Kevin Durant and Devin Booker is a pairing that most franchises would spend a decade trying to build and Phoenix has it. Booker has been the franchise cornerstone and the player who the city claimed as its own before the national audience caught up. When both are in rhythm, the Suns run an offensive system that is genuinely hard to defend and fun to watch live from any angle in the building.

Roosevelt Row, the arts district just east of downtown, is the pre-game neighborhood worth exploring - the density of restaurants and bars there has made it a legitimate destination rather than just a corridor. CityScape, right near the arena, handles the more mainstream pre-game crowd with options at multiple price points. Arriving in downtown Phoenix by light rail via the Valley Metro is workable - the Ballpark/3rd Street station puts you in walking distance, though most Valley attendees still drive and the parking structures around Footprint Center handle the volume.

The Suns operate in a market where the sun literally does not stop and the team has become the center of Phoenix sports identity in a way that tracks with the city's growth over the last decade.

Find Phoenix Suns tickets on Evil Tickets - the Valley in basketball season is the right time to see what downtown Phoenix has built around Footprint Center.