1998 Finals Revisited

Last night ESPN Classic was showing a marathon of old NBA Finals games. I caught the last doubleheader of the night: 1998 Game 6 Chicago vs. Utah and the 2008 Game 4 Lakers second-half collapse against the Celtics. Needless to say, I skipped the last one for fear of awakening old, vengeful spirits.

Here's what everyone remembers from Game 6 1998:



Here's what you probably don't remember:

The NBC announcing team of Bob Costas, Doug Collins, and Isaiah Thomas. Costas is so great at play-by-play its a shame he doesn't do the roundball anymore. He is from the Pat Summerall/Vin Scully play by play school of less-is-more. If you are under the age of 30, Bob Costas is basically the voice of sports in your lifetime. Almost every major event has been covered by Costas: World Series, NBA Finals, Summer Olympics, The Masters, NFL football, and the Kentucky Derby. He's so good. He's basically the Michael Jordan of sitting and talking into a microphone about grownups playing games. Doug Collins was and continues to be a great analyst. Plus he used to coach MJ so he had so credibility when breaking him down. Then we get to Isaiah Thomas. Meat Loaf said it best: "two out of three ain't bad." Every time Ike opens his mouth he literally sucks all the energy out of the telecast. In the next decade Isaiah would make millions of dollars at sucking.

Utah's Delta Center was just a crazy, rabid environment for a visiting team to play a game in front of. The player introduction for Utah was followed by an ear splitting fireworks display that had many Bulls players and coaches (and fans) plugging their ears to avoid permanent damage. At one point in the game, during a free throw, an offensive sign had to be removed by officials. I've never seen so many crazed, enraged white people in one place outside of a Limp Bizkit concert.

After only eleven years, the NBC in-game graphics seem quaint and old fashioned. We've become conditioned to the ever present scoreboard at the bottom of the screen but that's a fairly new convention. You would only see the score flashed after each possession and to catch anyone stat's beside Jordan, you'd better be paying close attention.

The most white starters you will ever see in a finals game from this time forward. Of course Utah had the accounting firm of Stockton/Hornacek. (Seriously, if you ran into these two in the street you would need 9,000 guesses before you came up with "professional basketball players.") They also started Adam Keefe. Chicago plucked their Caucasians starters from oversees. Toni Kukoc (Croatia) and Luc Longely (Australia) with Steve Kerr, Jud Bucheler, and Bill Wennington coming off their bench. Ahhhh... white dudes in the NBA, how retro.

Scottie Pippen had a back injury that he re-injures in the opening minutes of Game 6. He leaves the court in the first half and only plays 26 minutes in the game, most in the second half.

Two pre-replay review era baskets that swing the game significantly in Chicago's favor. In the second quarter Utah's Howard Eisley heaves a running 25-footer as the shot clock expires. The made basket is called off by Benjamin Button's childhood buddy, Dick Bavetta. With 3:38 left in the 4th quarter, Chicago's Ron Harper gets away with 15-foot heave that replays show was still in his hand as the shot clock hit zero. That's a five point swing in a game that came down to the last possession.

Jordan's awful third quarter where he shoots 1 out of 9, punches a baby, and bets on Easy Goer to win the third at Pimlico. (At least one of those things happened for sure the others are from wikipedia.) Seriously the third quarter must have been awful, ESPN Classic skipped the enitre thing.

Foreteller of Doom, Bob Costas at 8:14 left in the 4th quarter: "Bryon Russell comes off of Jerry Sloan's bench as soon as he saw that Jordan was about to come back in. He calls on Russell who probably will guard him." We'll check back in with Bob in about eight minutes and five seconds.

Jordan's greatness. It's easy for us to keep the idea of how great Jordan was alive in our minds. It's easy to remember all the iconic shots and highlight dunks and forget everything else that might soil our pollyanish memories . But seeing him in the flow and rhythm of the game is still a sight to behold a decade after the fact. His post-up game and fade away jumper was one of the two most unstoppable basketball moves I have ever seen. (The other is Hakeem Olajuwon's Dream Shake.) At age 35 and at the end of a grueling playoff stretch, he wills a team of banged up and mediocre teammates in a hostile environment to win their 6th championship in 8 years. His Game 6 numbers: 45 points, 1 reb, 1 ast, (15-35 FG, 12-15 FT, 3-7 3Pt) 4 stl, 1 turn, 44 min. Two words: Greatest. Ever.

Let's check back in with Bob @ 9 sec left: "Jordan! Open! Chicago with the lead!!!" Final score Chicago 87, Utah 86, History: priceless.