Mercury General Manager Seth Sulka's relationship with Cotton Fitzsimmons began with running the former Suns coach halftime and post-game box scores as a 19-year-old media relations intern. Over the years though, Fitzsimmons became a valuable resource for Sulka both personally and professionally. Sulka sat down with PhoenixMercury.com to share his fondest memories and personal thoughts about the passing of one of the biggest icons in Phoenix sports history.

PhoenixMercury.com: What are your earliest memories of Cotton?

Mercury General Manager Seth Sulka: I started out in media relations as a game-night stats runner, so my initial experience with Cotton was running him half-time and post-game box scores... I was a 19-year-old intern, game-night person, but it didn't matter to him. If you were around or in his path, he treated you just like he treated Bryan (Colangelo). He made no differentiation between who you were. If you were there, you were part of the organization and you were working to help the organization. He didn't 'big time' you. That was the reason he became so special to me.

PhoenixMercury.com: Cotton was always very loyal to all segments of the organizaion. In what ways did you see this play out?

Sulka: In the early years with the (Arizona) Rattlers, he was the consummate company guy. He had no personal interest in the Rattlers from a coaching standpoint, but he came to every game in those first few years. He'd be up in the suite and watching the game. Scott Brubaker, Bryan and I would sometimes be wondering what Danny (White) was doing and Cotton would be up there as the protector of all coaches. 'You guys think you could coach. Here he is out on the field, making the decisions and winning games for you guys. Legendary Danny White and you guys are up here talking. You guys are all the same. Us coaches can never win.' He was protecting a fellow coach. It didn't matter that it was a different sport. He was respectful of the coaching profession. Coaching was in him. His commitment to coaching in general always struck me.

PhoenixMercury.com: What impressed you most about his coaching techniques?

Sulka: One of the things that amazed me when I was really young in this business was his ability to ride certain rookies and be intensely on top of certain rookies. You almost felt bad for the rookie because of how hard Cotton would ride him sometimes, but it was always amazing because after practice, those rookies' favorite person was Cotton. Tim Perry and Andrew Lang, who were very big prospects at the time and big contributors as the Suns were trying to turn it around back then, and Cotton rode them hard every day in practice. Yet after practice, on the bus, in the locker room, they couldn't get enough of him because they knew that all he was trying to do was make them great basketball players and great professionals.

PhoenixMercury.com: What do you recall about Cotton’s relationship with his wife, JoAnn?

Sulka: It was always Cotton and JoAnn. He just made her a part of everything he did... Every game, whether we were on a 10-game winning streak or a 10-game losing streak, JoAnn was always there. Before the game, in the pressroom, halftime, after the game and the interactions were always the same. She was always the buffer. He would come and she'd be there holding court. They were a team. It was Cotton and JoAnn.

PhoenixMercury.com: How would you describe the legacy Cotton left behind?

Sulka: The testament to me is that it wasn't even a continuous 35 years. He went out, coached other teams and stayed in the league, and still had an everlasting impact in the organization. He's Cotton. He was a significant part of the beginning of this franchise; he came back and was a significant part of the rebirth of the franchise, and a significant part of the franchise’s best years.

I was born in '68, the year the Suns started. My dad had season tickets and the first 17 years we never missed a game. So, to me, if you're a Phoenician and you think of the Phoenix Suns, you think of Jerry, Cotton, Al (McCoy), Joe (Proski), that's where it starts.

PhoenixMercury.com: How did Cotton influence your education of the business?

Sulka: His desire to help and to teach what he knew was unqualified. It didn't matter who I was in the big scheme of things, he always would take the time to sit down and impart some wisdom, teach a lesson or get across one of his saying or philosophies.

For me right now, to this date there is still no one who has helped me as much throughout the whole process as I've evolved from a media relations assistant to a general manager running a team. Maybe he didn't know all the nuances or specifics of women's basketball, but on the bigger scale, he was there for every road bump over the last seven or eight years. Through the trials and tribulations of all of our coaches and players, he was there for me.

PhoenixMercury.com: In what ways did he contribute to your growth as a general manager?

Sulka: He didn't necessarily come to a lot of Mercury games, but every time I asked his advice I left with something valuable. The faces and names didn't matter. It was a basketball situation that he'd probably gone through 50 times. It didn't matter that it was Cheryl Miller or Cynthia Cooper. He was still able to help and coach me through it.

PhoenixMercury.com: How active a role did Cotton take in your personal life as you began to raise your family?

Sulka: My current family status was light years away when I first stared with the Suns and he was there the whole process. The dating, the marriage, my first set of twins, my second set of twins. (My wife) Carla and I went to his summer camps a couple of years in a row up in Tahoe, and those were the times when he made you feel a part of his world, his family. But, Cotton was always coaching. He was coaching in life, he was coaching you in your family, in your marraige, he was coaching football with Danny White. Every level of life and interaction with you were about coaching you, making you better and imparting what he had.

PhoenixMercury.com: What will you miss most about Cotton?

Sulka: The instant positive energy as soon he walked in the room. It's almost like sunshine, a positive energy. It didn't matter how you were feeling. It didn't matter what you were going through with your job or your family, he just lit up the room with a positive energy.

Then, for me, personally and selfishly, from a professional standpoint, he was definitely a significant guiding force as a resource for me in just trying to figure out sports. You don't just figure it out; you don't just know how to do this. It's an evolution and it's experience. Every single time, no matter what was going on, I could go to him. I'm going to miss the day-to-day guidance from a professional standpoint and then just that positive presence he exuded. Even when the team wasn't playing well, it was always, "We'll be fine."