and evaluation for the Phoenix Suns, making him the first openly gay person in league history to work basketball operations in an NBA front office. Franchise leaders NBA Outdoors The Suns held an annual basketball exhibition game, the NBA Outdoors, every first weekend of October in Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, near the city of Palm Springs from 2008 to 2010. However, the club ceased playing the outdoor preseason game prior to the 2011–12 NBA preseason. As a result of a recommendation by the Coachella Valley Recreation and Park District's Superintendent of Operations, Craig DeWitt, the NBA held its first outdoor exhibition basketball game on October 11, 2008. That stadium facility was built primarily for tennis tournaments and music concerts, and it can hold up to 15,000 fans. The Phoenix Suns lost the game to the Denver Nuggets. A second annual outdoor exhibition game was played on October 10, 2009, this time the Suns lost to the Golden State Warriors. On October 9, 2010, the Suns beat the Dallas Mavericks in the third annual outdoor exhibition. In 2008 and 2009 pre-seasons, the Suns held training camp in the Auditorium in La Quinta, California, and the College of the Desert Gymnasium in Palm Desert, California, alongside the Portland Trail Blazers. But in 2010, the Suns began their training in San Diego and the Trail Blazers in Tucson, Arizona, as well held exhibition games in Seattle, Washington. References General Phoenix Gazette, January 22, 1968. The Arizona Republic, January 23, 1968. "Suns continue ties to Tucson", Greg Hansen, Arizona Daily Star, April 17, 2004. Specific External links National Basketball Association teams Basketball teams established in 1968 1968 establishments in Arizona