by Shea Serrano
4. Technically, Lucas was kicked off the team for a failed drug test late in the regular season, but you get what I’m saying.
5. In 2012, Jonathan Abrams wrote an oral history for Grantland on the 1986 Rockets. In the part where people talk about the Olajuwon fight, the referee who broke up the fight, Jess Kersey, has this great line: “Somebody punched me in the head and I yelled up, ‘I don’t know which one of you just punched me in the head, but if I find out, you’re going to be ejected.’ With that, Bill Fitch [the Rockets coach] said to me, ‘Jess, I know who punched you.’ Of course in the heat of the moment, I look at Bill and say, ‘Who was it?’ He said, ‘It was Kareem and Magic.’”
6. My favorite tiny moment from this play: Larry Bird smiled to himself as he walked toward the spot where he was going to inbound the ball from. Imagine that. Imagine being in a situation as pressure-packed as that one and the thing you do is smile to yourself. Larry Bird was so goddamn dope.
7. This was such a total turn of events that it’s kind of overwhelming. Larry Bird had been magnificent in the game (36-12-9), but had missed a bunny that would’ve given the Celtics a three-point lead with under 30 seconds left. The Pistons came down, ran an iso for Thomas, and Thomas hit a massively clutch jumper to give the Pistons the one-point lead they ended up losing. So for Bird, he went (1) missed easy shot, (2) team loses lead, (3) gets shot blocked at the rim in astounding fashion. To go from that to one of the greatest playoff game endings in history is remarkable. Poor Isiah looked like he’d been shoved off a cliff.
8. The 1987 playoffs were fucking dope.
9. Chick Hearn was calling the radio broadcast of the game for the Lakers side. When the ball was awarded to the Lakers, to the ref, Chick, that beautiful bird, he said, “Last touched by a crying Kevin McHale.” The game ended with Larry Bird just missing a shot at the buzzer to win the game. Chick, who thought the shot was good when Bird let it go, declared, “It was as straight as a mackerel going upstream.” Chick was so wonderful.
10. Best guess: Things ultimately end up the same way they did. The only real change is that the Celtics hang on to win Game 4, tying the series 2–2. That being the case, I think the Lakers would’ve won Game 5 in LA and then Game 6 in Boston to close it out. The Celtics were just too beat up that series. McHale was hurt, Ainge was hurt, Bill Walton was hurt. They were just too old/beat up/fatigued.
11. They don’t.
12. Jordan’s stat line that game: 44-9-6. His stat line for Game 4: 50-3-4-3. He was not fucking around.
13. FYI: As a player, he only capitalized the first letter of his surname. In 2013, he adopted the original Belgian spelling to honor his grandfather.
14. Sorry, DeMar DeRozan.
WHAT HAPPENED IN THE MOMENT BEFORE “THE MOMENT”?
PART 2 (1992–2001)
THE MOMENT: 1992 Playoffs // NBA Finals // Trail Blazers vs. Bulls // Game 1 // Near the end of the first half, Michael Jordan hit his sixth three-pointer.1 On his way back up the court, he turned toward the broadcasters’ table, absorbed his own greatness, then shrugged at them in the most Get These Bitches Off the Court way that anyone has ever shrugged.
THE MOMENT BEFORE “THE MOMENT”: On the play before Jordan’s Three-and-Shrug, Clyde Drexler shot an air ball, and that’s a very poetic thing because:
1. Prior to the series starting, there was some discussion about whether Clyde deserved to be in the Best Player in the League conversation with Michael.2 Michael did not agree. Clyde Drexler was, at the time, one of the six or seven best basketball players on the planet. And Mike heard people saying their names in the same sentence and was like, “Well now I’m gonna destroy this man’s whole life.” That’s incredible.
2. The year that Jordan was drafted (1984), the Trail Blazers had a chance to get him. They had the number-two pick that year. They chose Sam Bowie, a 7-footer with spaghetti for legs.3 This is a thing most everyone knows. What a lot of people don’t realize, though, is . . .
3. The year that Clyde was drafted (1983), the Bulls had a chance to get him. He was drafted 14th by Portland. Chicago had the 5th pick.4 And there’s another thing . . .
4. In Hakeem Olajuwon’s book Living the Dream, he said that in 1984 the Trail Blazers offered Clyde Drexler and the second pick in the draft to Houston for their 7'4" center Ralph Sampson. The Rockets declined. Had they taken the deal, they’d have had Clyde on their roster, then drafted Olajuwon first and Jordan second in the ’84 draft. That’s gross.
But so you’ve got all of that backstory reflected in that one tiny moment where we watched the universe lift Michael Jordan up into the cosmos while karate kicking Clyde Drexler in the wiener.
THE MOMENT: 1993 Playoffs // First Round // Celtics vs. Hornets // Game 4 // Series: 2–1, Hornets // Score: 103–102, Celtics // 3.3 seconds left // Alonzo Mourning hit a step back jumper over Xavier McDaniel at the buzzer to give the Hornets a one-point win and also send them to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.
THE MOMENT BEFORE “THE MOMENT”: We should rewind this back three full plays to get the full impact of the blow of this shot.
3. With about 55 seconds left and leading by one, the Hornets ran an iso for Larry Johnson at the top of the three-point line. He got a little careless with the ball and ended up getting it stolen by Sherman Douglas, who snuck off Muggsy Bogues to help. Douglas sprinted down the other way for a layup. It capped a 14–2 run by the Celtics that had given them a one-point lead.
2. The Celtics defended the Hornets well on their next possession, with Robert Parish swallowing up the rebound with about 32 seconds left. The game should’ve been theirs. But they SOMEHOW got called for a 10-second violation, which gave the ball back to the Hornets.
1. The Hornets ran another iso for Larry Johnson after the 10-second violation call. He got a shot off that time, but he missed it. The Celtics bobbled the ball out of bounds.
So, to recap: The Celtics made this very wild run to get back in the game → then, short of punting it into the stands, they turned the ball over in the silliest way a professional basketball team can turn it over → then they couldn’t gather a rebound after a miss → then Alonzo Mourning slit their throats. It was rough.5 It doesn’t rate as painful or regretful as some of the other ones because there’s not one specific person we can pin it on and also the stakes were pretty low, but still. Rough.6
THE MOMENT: 1993 Playoffs // NBA Finals // Bulls vs. Suns // Game 6 // Series: 3–2, Bulls // Score: 98–96, Suns // 14.1 seconds left // Jordan brought the ball up court, tossed it to Pippen, who tossed it to Horace Grant, who kicked it out to John Paxson for a three. 99–98, Bulls. Game time.
THE MOMENT BEFORE “THE MOMENT”: David Robinson, who’d shot 66 percent from the free throw line during the playoffs that year, hit two in a row to tie the game at 100. I was so fucking nervous for those free throws. It looked like he was, too. It looked like he’d just found out that he had legs. It was the first time (and only time) in his career I’d ever seen him look like anything less than perfect grace. But the fact remains: He made the free throws.
And then Charles Barkley happened.
Probably the most sad thing about this is that that game was the last one the Spurs ever played in the HemisFair Arena. They moved into their new stadium after that.
THE MOMENT: 1993 Playoffs // Western Conference Semifinals // Suns vs. Spurs // Game 6 // Series: 3–2, Suns // Score: 100–100 // 11 seconds left // With about two seconds left, Charles Barkley hit a shot from the top of the key over David Robinson that won the game for the Suns. They moved on to the next round of the playoffs and I moved on to hating Charles Barkley.
THE MOMENT BEFORE “THE MOMENT”: Dan Majerle airballed a very open 12-footer that would’ve given the Suns a four-point lead with 14 seconds left. These are the types of moments before the moment that hurt the most. (Quick thing: The Bulls only scored 12 points in that entire quarter and still managed to win.) (Jordan had nine of those points.)
(Paxson had the other three.) (Jordan’s scoring total for the series: 31, 42, 44, 55, 41, and 33. That’s an average of 41 points per game, which is the highest in a Finals.)
THE MOMENT: 1995 Playoffs // Eastern Conference Semifinals // Pacers vs. Knicks // Game 1 // Score: 102–105, Pacers // 16.4 seconds left // Immediately after having made a three to bring the score to 102–105, Reggie Miller stole the inbounds pass, retreated to the three-point line, shot it, and made it again, tying the game at 105–105. Six seconds later, Reggie hit two free throws to win the game for the Pacers.
THE MOMENT BEFORE “THE MOMENT”: Let’s call this one three separate rapid-fire moments. What happened before Reggie’s first three? A pair of Greg Anthony free throws. What happened before Reggie’s second three? Anthony Mason was like, “Fuck it,” and threw the ball inbounds up for grabs. Reggie grabbed it. What happened before Reggie’s two free throws? John Starks missed two free throws.7 Ewing grabbed the rebound, missed a short shot, then Reggie grabbed that rebound and was fouled. The whole thing was a real collapse on one side and heroism on the other.
THE MOMENT: 1995 playoffs // Western Conference Semifinals // Rockets vs. Suns // Game 7 // Score: 110–110 // 7.1 seconds left // Mario Elie received a cross-court pass from Robert Horry, shot a three-pointer, made it, then blew a kiss8 to the Phoenix bench.
THE MOMENT BEFORE “THE MOMENT”: Kevin Johnson was fouled on a drive. He shot two free throws. He made the first (which tied the game) and missed the second. Johnson actually shot 22 free throws that game.9 He made all of them except that last one. I always wondered if that would have affected the way the game ended any. Does that game end differently if he makes that second free throw and gives the Suns a one-point lead? Does Elie still hit that three? Do they go for two instead?
THE MOMENT: 1995 Playoffs // Western Conference Finals // Rockets vs. Spurs // Game 2 // Series: 1–0, Rockets // Third Quarter // Hakeem Olajuwon put David Robinson in a wood chipper.
THE MOMENT BEFORE “THE MOMENT”: Shut up.
THE MOMENT: 1997 playoffs // Western Conference Finals // Jazz vs. Rockets // Game 4 // Series: 2–1, Jazz // Score: 92–92 // The Rockets inbounded the ball with 6.7 seconds left to Matt Maloney.10 He threw it to Clyde Drexler at the three-point line, and the Jazz immediately doubled him. Drexler threw it back to Maloney.11 Maloney threw it to Eddie Johnson, who fired a rainbow three-pointer from his chin that splashed through the net just after the buzzer sounded.12
THE MOMENT BEFORE “THE MOMENT”: John Stockton missed a free throw line jumper. Greg Foster missed a tip-in at the rim. Karl Malone grabbed the rebound and threw it out to Stockton, who reset the offense. Stockton drove, passed it to a cutting Hornacek, who then passed it out to Bryon Russell for a three. Russell missed it. So the Jazz went 0–3 over a 30-second stretch before Eddie Johnson’s game winner. They can all share a little of the blame here.
THE MOMENT: 1997 Playoffs // Western Conference Finals // Jazz vs. Rockets // Game 6 // Series: 3–2, Jazz // Score: 100–100 // 2.8 seconds left // Bryon Russell threw the ball in to John Stockton, who caught it near the edge of the Rockets logo at midcourt. He took one dribble in, then pulled up from about 27 feet. It was cash. Jazz won 103-100.
THE MOMENT BEFORE “THE MOMENT”: Clyde Drexler missed a leaning one-hander that would’ve put the Rockets up by two. The pain in this one is more of an accumulation thing, though. The Rockets were up 10 with less than three minutes left and also up 7 with less than two minutes left. We can’t blame this one all on Clyde. It’s never felt like his fault.13
THE MOMENT: 1997 Playoffs // NBA Finals // Jazz vs. Bulls // Game 1 // Score: 82–82 // 7.5 seconds left // The Bulls ran an iso for Jordan at the left wing. Bryon Russell was guarding him. Jordan gave a little stutter-step. Russell bit on it and jabbed at the ball. Jordan stepped through Russell’s arm, then pulled up for an elbow jumper, then shit on all of Utah. Bulls won at the buzzer, 84–82.
THE MOMENT BEFORE “THE MOMENT”: Following a John Stockton miss, Karl Malone chased down the rebound. While doing so, he was fouled by Dennis Rodman. The Bulls were in the penalty so he was awarded two free throws. Before he shot them, Pippen walked over to him and told him, “The Mailman doesn’t deliver on Sunday.” Malone missed them both. I laughed.14
THE MOMENT: 1997 Playoffs // NBA Finals // Jazz vs. Bulls // Game 6 // Series: 3–2, Bulls // Score: 86–86 // 28 seconds left // Pippen had the ball out on the left wing. Jordan, who’d wanted it in the post, ran out to Pippen to go get it when they couldn’t create the angle. Bryon Russell was guarding him and it was basically the same spot the two were in at the end of Game 1 when Jordan hit the jumper over him. This time, though, Stockton ran over to double Jordan. Jordan accepted the double team and passed the ball over to Steve Kerr. Kerr stuck his knife in the eyeballs of players on the Jazz, giving the Bulls a two-point lead with five seconds left.
THE MOMENT BEFORE “THE MOMENT”: Shandon Anderson, who played guard for the Jazz, received a pass from John Stockton down to the baseline. Nervous that he was going to get blocked from behind by Pippen, he went up and under to the other side of the rim. His layup rattled out. It was super sad. It was also super tampered with. Scottie Pippen jumped to try to block Anderson but couldn’t get to him because the rim was in the way and, likely out of reflex, Pippen grabbed the rim and pulled on it just enough to wobble the stanchion. It should’ve been called goaltending. It wasn’t, though. The Jazz ended up losing by the two points Kerr scored on the next possession. Hard one to live with for the Jazz, I’m sure.
If you put together a list of things that have to happen at the end of a game for that game to become truly and unforgettably heartbreaking, it’d be (1) Did your team have a chance late in the game and blew it? (2) Did the refs miss a call that absolutely had to be made? (3) Did the other team end up capitalizing on that misfortune immediately after by making a go-ahead shot? (4) Did it cost your team a championship? (5) Was there a history of torment already in place between the person who made the final play and the person who was messed up/screwed over? This game hit the first four of those things. Just brutal.
THE MOMENT: 1998 Playoffs // Eastern Conference Finals // Bulls vs. Pacers // Game 4 // Series: 2–1, Bulls // Score: 94–93, Bulls // 2.9 seconds left // Reggie Miller came curling off a screen to receive the inbounds pass, shoved Michael Jordan into oblivion, caught the ball, turned around, let fly a three-pointer, then did an ultra-exciting I CANNOT FUCKING BELIEVE I JUST DID THAT jumping, twisty-twirly thing in excitement after the shot went in.15
THE MOMENT BEFORE “THE MOMENT”: Scottie Pippen stole the ball (hooray!), was fouled (okay), missed the first free throw (oh no), then missed the second (SON OF A BITCH!). It’s hard to look back at this and gauge exactly how upsetting it was because the Bulls ended up winning the series anyway and then the championship later. Pippen probably laughs about those misses. When you win six rings, you get to laugh at shit.
THE MOMENT: 1998 Playoffs // NBA Finals // Jazz vs. Bulls // Game 6 // Series: 3–2, Bulls // Score: 86–85, Jazz // Jordan dribbled the ball up court to the left wing. He saw that Bryon Russell was guarding him and the Jazz weren’t going to double him.18 He took two hard dribbles toward the free throw line, crossed over on the second dribble to go back to the left, discarded Russell, pulled up, then cemented his case as the greatest basketball player of all time. Bulls won 87–86.
THE MOMENT BEFORE “THE MOMENT”: Aw, man. Poor Karl Malone. Jordan stole the ball from him. First the missed free throws before Jordan’s moment in 1997 and now this.
THE MOMENT: 1999 Playoffs // Eastern Conference Finals // Pacers vs. Knicks // Game 3 // Series: 1–1 // Score: 91–88, Pacers // 11.9 seconds left // Charlie Ward tried to throw the ball inbounds to I’m not sure who. Jalen Rose (Pacers) tipped it up but Larry Johnson grabbed it. He was a couple feet outside the three-point line and Antonio Davis was guarding him. He sized Davis up, gave him a juke move, cut left, then shot a three. The ref blew the whistle. The sh
ot went in. New York was loud.
THE MOMENT BEFORE “THE MOMENT”: Doesn’t matter. I don’t honor it. That wasn’t a foul. The Pacers won this game. They ended up going to the Finals. Congrats to the 1999 Pacers on making it to the Finals after all these years.
THE MOMENT: 2000 Playoffs // Western Conference Finals // Blazers vs. Lakers // Game 7 // Score: 79–83, Lakers // 45 seconds left // Kobe, dribbling out a few feet past the three-point line, crossed over Scottie Pippen, snaked his way into the lane, saw Portland’s Brian Grant slide over in front of him to prevent him from getting to the rim, lobbed a chunk of meat into the air near the rim, then the Tyrannosaurus rex Shaquille O’Neal snatched it up and slammed it down.
THE MOMENT BEFORE “THE MOMENT”: Scottie Pippen missed a three-pointer from the left wing. And that maybe doesn’t sound like a big thing, and I suppose in and of itself it wasn’t, but the “Kobe . . . TO SHAQ!” alley-oop was such an incredible moment because of the culmination of 10 different things:
1. The Lakers had a 3–1 lead in the series over the Blazers after Game 4.
2. Then the Blazers won the next two to tie it at 3–3.
3. Then the Blazers built up a 15-point lead with less than 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
4. Then the Lakers came all the way back to tie it.
5. Then the Lakers took the lead.
6. Then the alley-oop happened and I promise you I felt the floor rumble beneath my feet in Texas from how loud they were celebrating in LA.
7. It was, and remains, the biggest fourth quarter comeback during a Game 7 in league history.
8. This was the fourth year Kobe and Shaq were together but they’d yet to win a championship. Later, during their three-peat, it felt almost normal to see them rally back from big deficits. It was new here, though. I imagine they leaned on this particular comeback a lot when they got in those spots later.19