Ryan Dunn’s play has been a vital part of the Phoenix Suns’ recent success. He has averaged 15.5 points and 4.8 rebounds since returning to the starting lineup. He has been through the rookie peaks and valleys, being a rotational piece to getting coaches' decision DNPs, and he has endured all of these to get to this point.
Ryan Dunn’s stats since reentering the Suns’ rotation:
15.5 points
4.8 rebounds
3.0 stocks
Phoenix is 3-1 during this stretch, their best week-long mark in almost two months.
Mike Budenholzer previously removed Dunn from the rotation for six weeks. pic.twitter.com/LL1ZazJtI0
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) March 20, 2025
Ryan recently joined Theo Pinson and AJ Richardson on the Run Your Race podcast, sharing his journey to the NBA. It was a compelling listen, offering insight into the path of one of the Suns’ rising young stars. His story — full of grind, growth, and determination — adds another layer to the player fans are getting to know on the court.
His path to the NBA is an interesting one, to say the least. Ryan is the youngest of three children and his family was a diehard baseball family. Growing up his family were New York Yankee fans, and his favorite player was Derek Jeter. His first love was not basketball. It was baseball. In 2016, his older brother Justin was drafted by the New York Mets.
In middle school, his passion shifted from baseball to basketball and once he started high school, it was an easy choice. His biggest fear was telling his baseball-fanatic family he wanted to play basketball instead of baseball.
Luckily for all of us Suns fans, his family was supportive.
After his freshman year in public school, he transferred to Oak Hill Academy where he played on the school’s third basketball team. After one year at Oak Hill, he transferred to Long Island Lutheran High School. His senior year was cut short by the COVID pandemic and only played 3 games that year.
About to graduate from high school Ryan had no college offers, so he decided to do a post-graduate year at Perkiomen School in Pennsylvania. His basketball career took off from there. Ryan’s patience during this time, waiting for his turn, was a foundational piece that helped him deal with the roller coaster of his rookie year in the NBA. He had been through not playing before and was able to deal with that positively.
As we know Ryan played his college ball at Virginia, however after an initial scholarship offer from the Cavs, Ryan decided to visit other schools to be sure Virginia was the best spot for him. Unfortunately, during his other visits, Virginia offered its last scholarship to someone else, and Ryan thought he “messed this whole thing up!”.
The family decided to ask Coach Bennett to let him walk on and pay out of pocket in hopes of landing a scholarship in his second year. Luckily, someone transferred, and Ryan was able to land a scholarship in his freshman year.
In two years at Virginia Dunn was a key reserve his first year and blossomed his sophomore year averaging 8.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.3 blocks, and 1.3 steals per game. He decided to enter the 2024 NBA Draft.
Dunn credits his time with Coach Bennett and Virginia in developing his defensive abilities. “I didn’t start to play defense until I got to Virginia,” noted Dunn. After his sophomore season, he was considered the best defensive player in college basketball.
Ryan’s shooting woes were well-documented coming into the league. Ryan continued to work on his craft over the summer and felt more confident in his shooting. He noted a preseason game versus Denver where he made six threes was a turning point.
Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and head coach Mike Budenholzer encouraged the rookie to shoot the ball.
Ryan Dunn on developing his shooting:
“I wasn’t shooting it that well. I think it was kind of more mentally, I wasn’t confident in my shot that much. I kept getting a lot more reps, a lot more confidence. I just felt like when i got to Phoenix, we worked on it a lot more.” pic.twitter.com/a0UtkWmtZS
— CantGuardBook (@CGBBURNER) March 19, 2025
Dunn’s favorite player in the league is Kevin Durant, and for good reason. He admires KD’s relentless work ethic and no-nonsense approach to the game, qualities he’s tried to model in his own development.
Not a bad blueprint to follow.
Durant even invited him to join one of his full-speed workouts, giving Dunn a firsthand look at what it takes to reach the next level.
Ryan Dunn on playing with Kevin Durant:
“Seeing him work every day, you understand why he’s Kevin Durant. He’s serious when it comes to his work. [Kevin] is someone I’ve always wanted to grow my game like.”
(via @RunYourRaceTL) pic.twitter.com/g89MVSH2Zi
— Booker Muse (@DevinBookerMuse) March 19, 2025
I am a Ryan Dunn fan. I was hoping the Suns would draft him with their first-round pick. Yes, he has his limitations, but he also has the work ethic, and the mindset to overcome not playing, and not shooting the ball well, which gives me hope for his future.
Will he be an All-NBA player? Probably not. Will he ever shoot 40% from three? Maybe or maybe not. But he does bring energy, defense, and a dog mentality that is lacking on this team. Buy stock now in this kid, he can start and be a lockdown defender in this league. He reminds me of Shane Battier.
Let me know what you think.
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