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2005 NBA Finals
The 2005 NBA Finals was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 2004–05 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. The Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs played the Eastern Conference champion Detroit Pistons for the title, with the Spurs holding home court advantage and the Pistons as defending champions. The series was played under a best-of-seven format. (Unlike the previous three rounds, the team with home court advantage hosted games one, two, six, and seven if all were necessary). It also marked the Pistons' first NBA Finals loss since 1988. The Spurs won the series four games to three in the first NBA Finals to go to a Game 7 since 1994. The games were broadcast on ABC, with Al Michaels and Hubie Brown commentating. National radio coverage was provided by ESPN Radio through announcers Jim Durham and Dr. Jack Ramsay. Background This series was not only the first matchup of the previous two NBA champions since the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2004–05 Detroit Pistons Season
The 2004–05 NBA season was the 64th season for the Pistons, the 57th in the National Basketball Association, and the 48th in the Detroit area. During the offseason, the Pistons signed free agent Antonio McDyess. Coming off their upset victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals, the Pistons began the season playing around .500. However, things would get out of hand at the end of a November 19 game against the Indiana Pacers, when a huge brawl occurred between Pacers players and Pistons fans after Ben Wallace and Ron Artest got into a shoving match. As the season progressed, the Pistons would post an 11-game winning streak near the end of the season, and would eventually finish first overall in the Central Division, and second overall in the Eastern Conference with a 54–28 record. Ben Wallace was named Defensive Player of the Year for the third time, and was selected for the 2005 NBA All-Star Game. In the first round of the playoffs, the Pistons defeated the Phila ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1988 NBA Finals
The 1988 NBA Finals was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1987–88 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. The Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Eastern Conference champion Detroit Pistons 4 games to 3. One of Los Angeles Lakers head coach Pat Riley's most famous moments came when he promised the crowd a repeat championship during the Lakers' 1987 championship parade in downtown Los Angeles. With every team in the league now gunning for them, the Los Angeles Lakers still found a way to win, taking their seventh consecutive Pacific Division title. While the 1988 Lakers did not produce as many wins in the regular season as the 1987 Lakers, they were just as successful in the playoffs, becoming the first team in 19 years to repeat as champions. One of Pistons guard Isiah Thomas's career-defining performances came in Game 6. Despite badly twisting his ankle midway through the period, Thomas scored an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in their division not to be based in California, and play their home games at the Footprint Center. The Suns are one of four major league sports teams based in the Phoenix area, but are the only one to bill themselves as representing the city (the other teams - the Cardinals, Coyotes, and Diamondbacks - all bill themselves as representing the state of Arizona). The franchise began play in 1968 as an expansion team, and their early years were shrouded in mediocrity, but their fortunes changed in the 1970s after partnering Dick Van Arsdale and Alvan Adams with Paul Westphal; the team reached the 1976 NBA Finals, in what is considered to be one of the biggest upsets in NBA history. However, after failing to capture a championship, the Suns wou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players and scorers of all time, Bryant won five NBA championships, was an 18-time All-Star, a 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, a 12-time member of the All-Defensive Team, the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), and a two-time NBA Finals MVP. Bryant also led the NBA in scoring twice, and ranks fourth in league all-time regular season and postseason scoring. He was posthumously voted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020 and named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021. The son of former NBA player Joe Bryant, he was born in Philadelphia and partly raised in Italy. Recognized as the top American high-school basketball player while at Philadelphia suburb Lower Merion ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the greatest basketball players and centers of all time. He is a and center who played for six teams over his 19-year career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and is a four-time NBA champion. After playing college basketball for the LSU Tigers, O'Neal was drafted by the Orlando Magic with the first overall pick in the 1992 NBA draft. He quickly became one of the best centers in the league, winning Rookie of the Year in 1992–93 and leading his team to the 1995 NBA Finals. After four years with the Magic, O'Neal signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers. They won three consecutive championships in 2000, 2001, and 2002. Amid tension between O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat in 2004, and his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1990 NBA Finals
The 1990 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1989–90 National Basketball Association (NBA) season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The series pitted the defending NBA champion and Eastern Conference playoff champion Detroit Pistons against the Western Conference playoff champion Portland Trail Blazers. This was the first NBA Finals since 1979 not to involve either the Los Angeles Lakers or the Boston Celtics, and one of two NBA championships of the 1990s won by a team other than the Chicago Bulls or the Houston Rockets (the other was won by the San Antonio Spurs in 1999). The Pistons became just the third franchise in NBA history to win back-to-back championships, after the Lakers and Celtics. Background Portland Trail Blazers The Trail Blazers last made the NBA Finals when they won the NBA championship in 1977. In between finals appearances, the Blazers made the playoffs every year except 1982, but most of the time were eliminated in the first or s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1989 NBA Finals
The 1989 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1988–89 National Basketball Association (NBA) season, and the conclusion of the 1989 NBA Playoffs. The series was a rematch of the previous year's championship round between the Eastern Conference playoff champion Detroit Pistons and the defending NBA champion and Western Conference playoff champion Los Angeles Lakers. This, along with the 1983 NBA Finals, were the only two NBA championships of the 1980s not to be won by either the Lakers or the Boston Celtics; every NBA Finals of that decade featured either the Lakers or Celtics, and sometimes both (1984, 1985, 1987). Coincidentally, the Lakers were also swept in the 1983 NBA Finals, that time by the Philadelphia 76ers. During the season, the Lakers had won their division, with Magic Johnson collecting his second MVP award. The team swept the first three playoff series (Pacific Division foes: Portland, Seattle, and Phoenix), resulting in a rematch with the Detroit Pis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2003 NBA Finals
The 2003 NBA Finals was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 2002–03 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. The Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs played the Eastern Conference champion New Jersey Nets for the title, with the Spurs holding home court advantage. The series was played under a best-of-seven format. The Spurs defeated the Nets to win the series 4–2. Spurs' forward Tim Duncan was named the Most Valuable Player of the championship series. The series was broadcast on U.S. television on ABC, with Brad Nessler, Bill Walton, and Tom Tolbert announcing. The 2003 Finals documentary was narrated by Rodd Houston, who later narrated three other NBA Finals series. Background The 2002–03 season had already started as a memorable one for the San Antonio Spurs, as it was the team's first season in their new arena, the SBC Center. However, as this season was one of beginnings, it was also one of endings. During th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1999 NBA Finals
The 1999 NBA Finals was the championship round of the shortened 1998–99 NBA season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs took on the Eastern Conference champion New York Knicks for the title, with the Spurs holding home court advantage. The Spurs defeated the Knicks 4 games to 1 to win their first NBA championship. Background The 1998-1999 NBA season was shortened due to a labor dispute that led to a lockout. The owners and the National Basketball Players Association reached an agreement to end the dispute on January 20, 1999. The 1998–99 season, which began on February 5, 1999, was shortened from the usual 82-game schedule to 50 games per team. San Antonio Spurs The 1998–99 season was the second season of the " Twin Towers" pairing of David Robinson and star second-year forward Tim Duncan. Robinson and Duncan had been teammates since the Spurs drafted Duncan with the first overall pick in the 1997 NBA Draft. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Durham
Jim Durham (February 12, 1947 – November 4, 2012) was an American sportscaster. Durham was born in Chicago, IL, and graduated from Donovan High School in Donovan, IL, and later attended Illinois State University in Normal, IL. Career Durham spent more than 37 years calling NBA games on TV and radio; his previous assignments were with the Chicago Bulls, the Dallas Mavericks, TNT and TBS. With the Bulls, he was the play-by-play announcer when Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and their teammates won the 1991 NBA championship. In 1998, Durham called men's NCAA basketball tournament games for CBS. Early career Early in his career, Durham worked on WJBC radio in Bloomington, Illinois. During his time there, he covered the career of Illinois State University basketball star Doug Collins, later coincidentally the coach of the Bulls during the early Jordan years in Chicago, including the famous call listed below. NBA career Durham was the play-by-play voice of the Chicago Bulls fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". The network is based out of the ESPN campus in Bristol, Connecticut, with multiple studio facilities nationwide, along with home studios. The network airs a regular schedule of daily and weekly programming as well as live radio play-by-play of sporting events. ESPN Radio is broadcast to hundreds of affiliate stations, along with national and Canadian carriage on Sirius XM. The network's content is also available online through its affiliates via Audacy, iHeartRadio and TuneIn, and the network also makes its programming available via podcast feeds and providers, with some additional content audio and video available through an ESPN+ subscription. Several of its programs are also featured as fully live or "best-of" video simulcasts on th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hubie Brown
Hubert Jude Brown (born September 25, 1933) is an American retired basketball coach and player and a current television analyst. Brown is a two-time NBA Coach of the Year, the honors being separated by 26 years. Brown was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005. Early life and career Born in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, Brown moved to Elizabeth, New Jersey at age three and was raised there, living in a small apartment building without a telephone. Brown, an only child, has said that his father, Charlie, who worked at the shipyards, was a "demanding man." He graduated from St. Mary of the Assumption High School in 1951. While in high school, St. Mary won state championships in football, basketball and baseball. Hubie Brown played college basketball and baseball at Niagara University, graduating in 1955 with a degree in education. While at Niagara, Brown was a teammate (and roommate) of former Utah Jazz coach Frank Layden, as well as Larry Costello and Cha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
