![\"Jordan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2271862671-1-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nPHOENIX \u2014 Once Jordan Goodwin sees his Phoenix Suns teammates square up to shoot, he starts making his way to the rim, watching the ball, reading angles. Rebounding is a Goodwin specialty, as is all the dirty work. It stems from his earliest days on a basketball court.<\/p>\n
Twenty or so years ago, in the suburbs of St. Louis, Tim Goodwin would return home from his job at the post office. There, he would find young Jordan holding a basketball near the front door, ready to hoop. The Goodwins called this \u201cGame Night.\u201d It was how Tim bonded with his three sons.<\/p>\n
Goodwin was the youngest. And in the family driveway, he got bullied. His brothers pretty much told him, \u201cYou want to shoot? Find a way to get the ball.\u201d In those earliest days, Goodwin would start crying. Tim Goodwin had no sympathy.<\/p>\n
He told his son, \u201cJust because you\u2019re the baby doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019re going to treat you like a baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
Soon, Goodwin began out-smarting his family. A shot would bounce off the rim, Goodwin would beat everybody to the ball and someone would ask a familiar question \u2014 \u201cHow\u2019d you get that rebound?\u201d Even today, as the Suns battle the Oklahoma City Thunder in a Western Conference first-round series, the 6-foot-3 Goodwin is among the league\u2019s bigger pests, grabbing rebounds, hounding shooters, stealing possessions.<\/p>\n
Goodwin, who has played only five minutes in the series because of left calf soreness, is questionable for Saturday\u2019s Game 3. The Suns need his energy.<\/p>\n
A couple of days ago, Goodwin, 27, recalled those days in the family driveway.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey never let me get the rebound unless I dove on concrete to get it,\u201d Goodwin said. \u201cThat kind of was built in me like in second grade and stayed with me my whole life.\u201d<\/p>\n
He plays basketball like a football player, which is interesting for two reasons.<\/p>\n
1. During games, Goodwin actually looks like a football player. He wears a black protective mask, something he initially did after suffering an injury to his nose in college. It was not a one-time thing. After Goodwin kept hurting his nose, his mother finally told him, \u201cJust keep it on. The way you play, sticking your nose in with all those big men, you\u2019re going to keep getting hit.\u201d And so he did.<\/p>\n
2. Goodwin played high school football and was really good.<\/p>\n
Informed of this, Phoenix forward Royce O\u2019Neale kind of rolled his eyes. Every baller loves to reminisce about their football days, he said. O\u2019Neale even used the opportunity to inform a group of reporters that he once was a pretty good quarterback, adding that if any teammate disagreed, a 7-on-7 flag game could always be arranged.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Neale was asked if he could guess Goodwin\u2019s position.<\/p>\n
\u201cHigh school?\u201d he said. \u201cEither a running back \u2014 I might give him a wide receiver \u2014 or probably a safety.\u201d<\/p>\n
Answer: A tight end who sometimes flexed outside.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could definitely see that,\u201d O\u2019Neale said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Jordan Goodwin scored 19 points in the Suns\u2019 Play-In Tournament win over Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors, clinching the West\u2019s No. 8 seed. (Christian Petersen \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Ken Turner was Goodwin\u2019s football coach at Althoff Catholic in Belleville, Ill. All those things you see from Goodwin on the basketball court? He was the same force on the football field, Turner said. Iowa, New Mexico State and Jacksonville State were among the schools that offered scholarships.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has great hands \u2014 great hands,\u201d Turner said. \u201cBut the physical part would have taken him a long way (had he stuck with football.) He loved blocking. Loved putting guys on their back.\u201d<\/p>\n
For a while, Goodwin considered playing both sports in college. His father talked him out of it. Told him he needed to pick one.<\/p>\n
Goodwin accepted a basketball scholarship at Saint Louis University. As a freshman, he started 26 games and averaged a team-high 7.5 rebounds. As a junior, he averaged 10.4 rebounds, which ranked 23rd in the nation. Everyone ranked above him stood at least three inches taller.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe saw it every night, and we\u2019d be like, \u2018How does he do this?’\u201d said Travis Ford, then the head coach at Saint Louis. \u201cProbably half of those rebounds were offensive rebounds, which are the hardest to get. We used to use him as an example all the time in the locker room, like, \u2018Guys, you\u2019re 6-9, 6-10 and getting seven rebounds. He\u2019s 6-3 and getting 10, 11 and 12 rebounds. You have the same opportunities!\u201d<\/p>\n
The knock on Goodwin\u2019s game was his outside shooting. Ford said they used to tease him about it. We give you the green light, but you keep missing. Goodwin responded with repetition, getting to the gym before 6 a.m., working on his shot until it was time for class.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy son, when someone tells him that he can\u2019t do something \u2014 you\u2019re not a good shooter, you only can score under the basket \u2014 the next game he\u2019s probably going to hit like five or six 3s,\u201d Tim Goodwin said. \u201cLike, \u2018OK, that\u2019s how you feel about me?’\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople would ask, \u2018Can he play in the NBA?\u2019 And I was like, \u2018I don\u2019t know,’\u201d Ford said. \u201cThe only thing I would tell you is I would never bet against Jordan Goodwin. Don\u2019t open the door because if you open the door, he\u2019s going to figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
It took a while. In 2021, Goodwin went undrafted. He played in the G-League, signed 10-day contracts, suited up for the Washington Wizards, Memphis Grizzlies, Suns and Los Angeles Lakers, cracked rotations and showed promise. But he could never find a permanent spot.<\/p>\n
The Suns claimed Goodwin off waivers last summer, offering him a second stint in the desert. After a slow start, he has become one of Phoenix\u2019s more valuable players, an on-ball defender worthy of all-league recognition. He averaged 8.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists in the regular season, hitting 37.1 percent of his 302 3s.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere he started this season to now speaks volumes about who he is and what he\u2019s becoming as a basketball player,\u201d Suns coach Jordan Ott said.<\/p>\n
On April 17, Goodwin had 19 points, 9 rebounds and 6 steals in a win over the Golden State Warriors that clinched the Western Conference\u2019s eighth playoff seed. Goodwin said it wasn\u2019t his best game, but his biggest. Win or go home. He rose to the moment.<\/p>\n
After the win, Goodwin talked to his parents, who had made the trip to Arizona. Tim Goodwin assigns a letter grade to Goodwin after every performance. Usually, he simply texts his son from back home in Illinois. But this time, Tim Goodwin said he delivered the evaluation in person.<\/p>\n
At Mortgage Matchup Center, Tim Goodwin told his son that he had left 8 points on the floor, at least 3 rebounds and another 2 steals.<\/p>\n
Final grade: B-plus.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe never gets no \u2018A,’\u201d said Tim Goodwin, pastor of a Baptist church in Mount Vernon, Ill. \u201cBecause once you get an \u2018A,\u2019 you\u2019d be like, \u2018OK, I\u2019ve made it.\u2019 No, you have not made it yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Goodwin is OK with that. He\u2019s an unrestricted free agent after the season. He has put himself in a good position. But he\u2019s far from finished.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like the work is starting to pay off a little bit now, but I wouldn\u2019t say I\u2019m comfortable because there\u2019s still some things I want to reach,\u201d Goodwin said. \u201cI\u2019m still hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOENIX \u2014 Once Jordan Goodwin sees his Phoenix Suns teammates square up to shoot, he starts making his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":630065,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,7185,85],"class_list":["post-630064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-phoenix-suns","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=630064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630064\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/630065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=630064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=630064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=630064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}