On June 4, 2000 Kobe Bryant threw up the alley-oop to Shaq who slammed home a monster dunk!
There’s Father Time, there’s Baby New Year and then there’s this millennium through which we and the NBA are grinding at a pretty swift pace.
Did you live through all the Y2K anxiety over a looming grid collapse? LeBron James was more concerned about navigating freshman year at St. Vincent-St. Mary. He’s 40 now and the league has marched in lockstep with him.
This is the 25th NBA season of the century, a quarter of the way through. Or, depending how you count 1999-2000, we’ve got 25 in the books already, making this No. 26. Either way, it’s a good time for some recollecting and ranking.
Nearly a third of the NBA’s existence has played out since it crossed the 2000 threshold. Michael Jordan still had a second comeback and third retirement in him. Kobe Bryant won three rings as the ultimate sidekick, then carried the Lakers to two more. James’ entire career has played out in the 2000s … with Victor Wembanyama being born halfway through LeBron’s rookie season.
I’ve ranked my personal Top 10 since 2000, which leaves tens of thousands — postseason classics or random remarkable performances played out in November or January — that didn’t make the cut.
Highlighted by Bryant’s alley-oop to Shaquille O’Neal, the Lakers erased a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter.
Takeaway: My most vivid memory was how the media workroom emptied as Portland’s lead dwindled. Most writers thought they safely could get a jump in writing their game stories, until the Lakers changed all that.
On this day in 2000… Kobe & Shaq connected on an alley-oop in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals to punch their ticket to the NBA Finals! #NBAVault #NBA75 pic.twitter.com/EJLShmXA9b
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) June 4, 2022
The final 12 seconds gave us Bryant’s go-ahead 20-footer, Tim Duncan’s counter from 18 feet to make it 73-72 and, finally, Derek Fisher’s off-balance buzzer-beater out of a timeout with 0.4 seconds left.
Takeaway: Shaquille O’Neal had his hands full with Duncan, whose 21 points and 21 boards eclipsed Shaq’s 11 and 11. But the Lakers’ big man got the last word: “One lucky shot deserves another.”
On this date in 2004, Derek Fisher hits an iconic game-winner against San Antonio with 0.4 seconds left!#NBAVault pic.twitter.com/lceWmJ60KG
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) May 13, 2023
James, at 23, scores 29 of his team’s last 30 and the final 25 overall, winning the game in double overtime.
Takeaway: A coming-out party for James, who carried his team like never before or since. He led a shaky roster past Detroit, which had won the East and still had the core of its 2004 title team.
On this day back in 2007…
LeBron James goes off for 48 points, including 25 straight, in a double OT win against the Pistons in the ECF! pic.twitter.com/MffppWBHjd
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) May 31, 2024
Chicago survives Ray Allen’s 51 points to win a 63-minute marathon.
Takeaway: Triple OT is tough to beat. This was the series when rookie Derrick Rose served notice to the East of his coming meteoric impact. Then there was Joakim Noah’s steal, dunk and celebration, John Salmons (!) scoring 35, and Salmons and Rose each playing nearly 60 minutes.
This classic Bulls/Celtics Game 6 was 14 years ago today!
🔥 Ray Allen went off for 51
🔥 Highlight-packed 3OT thriller
🔥 D-Rose’s block forced Game 7 pic.twitter.com/CaAc0ICgbM— NBA History (@NBAHistory) April 30, 2023
Not only did it validate James’ return to Cleveland with the franchise’s first NBA championship, it marked the league’s first claw-back from a 3-1 Finals deficit.
Takeaway: Take your pick: Is your most vivid memory James’ chase-down block of Andre Iguodala with the score tied, Kyrie Irving’s go-ahead 3-pointer with 53 seconds left or Kevin Love’s unlikely perimeter defense stymying Stephen Curry?
“BLOCKED BY JAMES!”
7 years ago today… LeBron’s iconic chasedown block late in Game 7 to help secure Cleveland’s first NBA Championship.#NBAVault pic.twitter.com/bOWoid2qMx
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) June 19, 2023
Kevin Garnett came up with one of the best playoff performances (32 points, 21 rebounds, five blocks, four steals) and Minnesota needed every bit to eliminate Sacramento.
Takeaway: In his MVP season, on his 28th birthday, Garnett scored 14 in the fourth and refused to let the Wolves lose. It ranks as the high point in franchise history IMO, just a hair better than the team’s Game 7 victory last spring (also in the West semis) coming back late to beat defending champion Denver.
On this day in 2004, Kevin Garnett went off for 32 PTS, 21 REB, 5 BLK to lead the @Timberwolves to the Western Conference Finals on his 28th birthday!#NBAVault #NBABDAY pic.twitter.com/XHKWyIHyC4
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) May 19, 2020
Arguably James’ greatest game, under the greatest pressure, to keep “the Heatles” alive. He had 45 points (more than any three Celtics combined), 15 rebounds and five assists to get Miami to their Game 7 at home.
Takeaway: Two years earlier, a Game 7 ouster in Boston washed over James, sending him into free agency and “The Decision.” He beat back the bad TD Garden mojo.
45 PTS 🔥 15 REB 🔥 5 AST#OTD in 2012, LeBron made sure there was a Game 7 in Miami. pic.twitter.com/6JdEwYqA95
— NBA TV (@NBATV) June 7, 2020
Kobe scores 81.
Takeaway: Toronto’s players and coaches are teased (traumatized?) to this day over the Lakers’ shooting guard posting the second-highest individual point total in NBA history. He was just warming up with 26 in the first half before exploding for 55 in the second, finishing 28-of-46 with 7-of-13 on 3-pointers.
.@KobeBryant 81 (Jan. 22, 2006) Watch all of Kobe’s 81 points in 3 minutes pic.twitter.com/cKZONnSrVr
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) January 22, 2018
Down 21 with nine minutes left, Allen Iverson (15 points in the fourth quarter) and Stephon Marbury (two 3-pointers in the final 53 seconds) led the East All-Stars to a furious comeback victory that had folks forgetting they were watching a mere exhibition.
Takeaway: A little intensity, competitiveness and pride are all it takes to make an All-Star Game memorable. Why could those guys do what today’s can’t?
🌟 Look back at the best moments & highlights from 2001 #NBAAllStar Weekend in D.C.! 🌟
All of All-Star in One Night – March 7, TNT:
– 5 PM ET: NBA Tip-Off presented by CarMax
– 6:30 PM ET: #TacoBellSkills & #MtnDew3PT
– 8 PM ET: 70th NBA All-Star Game
– Halftime: #ATTSlamDunk— NBA (@NBA) February 25, 2021
Klay Thompson scores 19 in the fourth quarter and hits a playoff record 11 3-pointers as Golden State avoids elimination, again.
Takeaway: Thompson is at his most unconscious, and the Warriors’ budding dynasty is on the brink. By surviving a 3-1 deficit in this series — and then succumbing to the Cavs’ same feat — Golden State effectively ended OKC’s Kevin Durant-Russell Westbrook era.
Klay Thompson’s historic night from beyond the arc and 19 4th quarter points led the Warriors to a Game 6 comeback to force a decisive Game 7 in the 2016 Western Conference Finals! #NBAVault #NBA75 pic.twitter.com/sQovj18DsD
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) May 28, 2022
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Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Warner Bros. Discovery.
