Sports Then and Now

Michael Jordan's last shot as a Chicago Bull nailed down their sixth NBA title.

The NBA Finals begin this week and provides a perfect opportunity to take a look back at the history of the NBA Finals with the 50 greatest moments in NBA Finals history.

In a previous column we looked at numbers 50-26.

Here are the top 25 NBA Finals moments of all-time:

25. Game 5 2005 Spurs-Pistons
Robert Horry, aka “Big Shot Rob”, came up with another clutch shot as he drills the game-winning three pointer with 5.8 seconds left in overtime as the Spurs defeat the Pistons 96-95 and take a 3-2 series lead.

Horry scores all 21 of his points in the 4th quarter and overtime (with the exception of his basket on the last shot of the third quarter) as the Spurs would defeat the Pistons in seven games for their third championship in seven years and Horry’s sixth NBA title as a player.

24. Game 4 1975 Warriors-Bullets
The Golden State Warriors, a team that finished with a 48-34 record during the regular season, pull over a shocking four-game sweep of the Washington Bullets, 60-22 in the regular season, in what is regarded as the greatest upset in NBA finals history.

23. Game 6 1997 Bulls-Jazz
With time winding down and the game tied 86-86, the Jazz double-team Michael Jordan in hopes of forcing a bad shot.

Instead, Jordan passes it to Steve Kerr who drills a 17-foot jumper as the shot clock expires to give the Bulls a 88-86 lead with five seconds left.

The Bulls preserve the victory and their fifth NBA championship when Scottie Pippen steals the ensuing inbounds pass, and then passes it off to Toni Kukoc who slams it home for a 90-86 win and a six-game series win. Read the rest of this entry →

Larry Bird and Magic Johnson combined for many great moments in the NBA Finals.

The NBA Finals begin this week and I have decided to take a look back at the history of the NBA Finals with the 50 greatest moments in NBA Finals history.

In this list, there are multiple moments from one series to make up the top 50.

For example, four of the moments are from the 1984 Finals between the Lakers and the Celtics, while there are three moments from the 1997 Finals between the Bulls and the Jazz.

Here now are moments 50-26 in the countdown of the 50 most memorable moments in NBA Finals history.

50. Game 6 2003 Spurs-Nets
Spurs center Tim Duncan has a near quadruple-double (22 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists, and eight blocked shots) as San Antonio goes on a 19-0 run in the fourth quarter for a 88-77 victory over the New Jersey Nets to clinch the franchise’s second of four championships and send David Robinson out as a champion in his final game.

49. Game 5 1984 Lakers-Celtics
This was the infamous “Heat Game” as both the Lakers and the Celtics had to play the fifth game of this series in oppressive heat as it was 97-degrees in Boston on this day and the Boston Garden had no air conditioning.

The heat did not seem to effect the Celtics as they defeated the Lakers 121-103 thanks to a 34-point, 17-rebound performance from Larry Bird.

48. Game 5 1999 Spurs-Knicks
Point guard Avery Johnson makes the winning basket as he drills a baseline jumper with 47 seconds left to give the San Antonio Spurs a 78-77 win and clinch the first championship in franchise history. Read the rest of this entry →

Larry Bird and Magic Johnson make the epic 1984 NBA Finals the most watched series in NBA Finals history

Of course when everybody thinks of the great rivalry between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, they think of Larry and Magic… But the intense rivalry started even before the epic 1984 Finals series. The Celtics and Lakers met seven times in the NBA Finals before 1984, and the Celtics won all seven championships. The rivalry slightly died down, but was reborn in the epic 1984 finals series.

In 1984 the Celtics and the Lakers met in the NBA Finals once again. This would turn out to be the most watched series in NBA history. Who wouldn’t want to watch it? It is perhaps the most intriguing matchup in NBA Finals history. You have arguably the two best players in the NBA, the two best teams, and to top it all off, the intense rivalry between the two franchises.

Because of their 62-20 record, the Celtics would win home court advantage. The first two games of the series would be held in Boston, but that wouldn’t prove to be any help to the home team. The Lakers went on to win game one 115-109. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had 32 points and 8 rebounds. Earvin “Magic” Johnson had 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 10 assists. Bird had 24 points and 14 rebounds, but it was not enough to propel the Celtics to a victory in game one.
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Bird and Person battled in an epic and deciding Game Five in the '91 NBA Playoffs.

In the ’90-’91 season, the Celtics were still one of the top teams in the NBA. They finished with a 56-26 record under head coach Chris Ford and won the Atlantic division. However, everything wasn’t rosy for the Celtics especially with Larry Bird.

Age and injuries were catching up with the “Big Three”. Kevin McHale only played 68 games, Robert Parrish miraculously stayed healthy and only missed one game, and Larry Bird missed 22 games to due to a compressed nerve in his back. This would be the injury that would cause Larry Legend to retire after the following season.

Bird, at age 34, would still have a productive season. He averaged 38 minutes per game, 19.4 points (which led the team), 7.2 assists, and 7.6 boards. However, he was a far cry from the Larry Bird of old.

The Celtics faced the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs that season. Boston would split the first two games at the Garden before traveling to Indiana for Games 3 and 4. The Celtics would take Game 3 112-105, but they couldn’t close out the scrappy Pacers in Game 4. The series was tied 2-2 and set up a winner take all Game 5 back in Boston.

Larry Bird spent the night of May 4, 1991 in the hospital in traction due to his insufferable back pain. No one really thought Bird would be able to play in the deciding Game Five versus the upstart Pacers.

However, as people learned throughout Bird’s whole career, never count him out.

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Watching old highlights of Larry Bird helps illustrate just how amazing a player he was.

On the program “Outside The Lines”, ESPN recently did a feature about the lack of American born white players in the NBA. This got me thinking about the amazing career of one of the great American born white players of the last 30 years, Larry Bird.

Bird is also back in the forefront lately through the new book he co-wrote with Magic Johnson entitled, “When the Game Was Ours.” Click here to read a great review of the book recently posted by Joe Gill. Also, if you sign up to receive daily updates from Sports Then and Now or the sites for Boston, Chicago or Baltimore between now and January 15, 2010, you will be automatically registered for a drawing where you could win one of two copies of the book.

As part of our occasional series remembering the careers of some of the greats of the game through Youtube videos, I’ve picked several videos that depict Bird’s legendary career.

Watching these videos, I was absolutely amazed at just how great Bird was. At the time he played, we all new Bird was great, but seeing his many amazing passes and shots, it is clear that he was one of the all-time greats and will never be duplicated. There are certainly many great players today, but none (regardless of color) who have quite the package of greatness embodied by “the Kid from French Lick.” Enjoy.

Larry Bird’s Great Moments

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“When The Game Was Ours”

Written by: Larry Bird and Earvin Magic Johnson with Jackie MacMullan

What can I say about this book? For one, I could not put it down.

This is a must read for any sports fan.

A book has to grab my attention right away or it finds its way to the Land of Lost Toys AND Books.

“When The Game Was Ours” did not find its way to that place. This book brought me back to memories of my youth.

As a child of the 80’s, my fondest sports memories were of Celtics-Lakers on Sunday afternoons.

Bird. McHale. The Chief. Magic. Worthy. Kareem.

These are all names that are interwoven into the fabric of my sports soul.

To say I was excited to read this book is an understatement!

The journey starts with the tandem of Bird and Johnson telling the stories of their childhoods in French Lick and East Lansing. You learn about their high school playing days and how they were courted by the big time college basketball programs.

Bird would choose the powerhouse of Indiana coached by the infamous Bobby Knight and Magic stayed with his hometown school of Michigan State.

You will discover the reasons for Bird’s transition from Indiana to dropping out of school and then being wooed by Indiana State. Bird was very close to cutting his basketball career short.

The rivalry between Magic and Bird would start in college culminating with the 1979 NCAA championship.

This is when Magic and Bird followed each other’s career obsessively.

This is when the rivalry bloomed.

This is when the NBA became relevant again.

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