Lakers–Suns rivalry

The Lakers–Suns rivalry is a National Basketball Association (NBA) rivalry between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns. The rivalry began as early as the 1969–70 season when the Lakers and Suns met against each other in the first round of the 1970 NBA playoffs, with peaks being had throughout the 1980s, early 1990s, and 2000s. While the Lakers won every playoff series from their 3–1 series comeback in 1970 until 1989, the Suns have won the vast majority of playoff series matchups since 1990, winning 5 of the last 7 playoffs series since then, including a reverse series sweep against the Lakers in 1993 and a 3–1 comeback of their own in 2006. While the rivalry cooled off during the 2010s due to poor teams and management by both squads throughout that decade, renewed interest in the rivalry sparked into the 2020s, with both teams returning to NBA Finals contention early in the decade, as well as both the Lakers and Suns having notable superstars joining them in LeBron James and Kevin Durant respectively and the Suns hiring former Lakers coach Frank Vogel in 2023. With 13 head-to-head playoff meetings, this is the most frequently played playoff matchup in the history of the Western Conference.