I’m not a basketball fan. I can just about follow a game, but I have only the basic knowledge of the sport that one who glances at the sports news every day manages to acquire over the years. For example, I know that the NBA Finals are in full swing – but I couldn’t tell you what teams are involved.
But if you check out the “Book Reviews” page here, you’ll see that I’m a fan of history – and sports history. Recently (inspired largely by Joe Posnanski’s Why We Love Baseball and Why We Love Football), I started wondering what events and incidents would – or should – be included in a list of Great Moments in Basketball History.
There are plenty of lists out there – but I’m taking a much broader view of what belongs.
February 19, 1948: The Harlem Globetrotters beat the Minneapolis Lakers.
It’s easy to forget that the Globetrotters started out as a barnstorming team back when the sport was segregated. For many years, they were the best team – regardless of skin color – in the country. And keep in mind that the NBA, in those days, did not exist in any way we would recognize. Leagues and teams came and went like snow in April. Max Winter, the owner of the Lakers, grabbed players wherever he could from defunct teams to create what was essentially an “all star” team – of white players, that is. A friend of ‘Trotters owner Abe Saperstein, he agreed to face them for an exhibition game featuring two of the best teams in the country. Race actually didn’t enter into it. The Globetrotters won 61-59 (thanks to a one-handed jump shot by Elmer Robinson at the buzzer) – convincing the country that blacks really could hold their own against white players. When the NBA finally started organizing soon afterwards, the owner of the New York Knicks refused to join the league unless he could sign black players. When the league began its first season in 1950, three black players were on rosters.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Globetrotters%E2%80%93Lakers_game
April 18, 1962: With just a few seconds left in regulation, Frank Selvy’s shot bounces off the rim, sending Game 7 of the NBA Finals between the Celtics and the Lakers into overtime.
A look back after twelve years, featuring some of the participants
Only one other NBA Finals had a Game 7 go to overtime – and none since.
April 15, 1965: “HAVLICEK STOLE THE BALL!”
The call pretty much made sportscaster Johnny Most a legend.
January 25, 1971: The Harlem Globetrotters lose a game. Yes, they actually did. Only by one point…..but it’s still the only loss that the ‘Trotters will acknowledge.
September 9, 1972: Men’s Finals, Munich Olympics. From what I’ve read, the USA team wasn’t playing their best during the game. It probably never should have come down to one shot in the last few seconds. And I still want someone to explain what would have – should have – happened if the officials got everything right in the first place.
1974: Pat Summitt takes over as head coach of the Tennessee Lady Vols.
When she started as coach, she drove the team to their games and even did the laundry. By the time she retired in 2012, she had more wins than any other coach in the history of college basketball.
January 1994: Hoop Dreams premieres at the Sundance Film Festival.
That’s why when somebody say, “when you get to the NBA, don’t forget about me”, and that stuff. Well, I should’ve said to them, “if I don’t make it, don’t you forget about me.” – William Gates
June 21, 1997: Opening Day in the WNBA.
“We were scared to death. That’s just being honest. The night before the game, we were all talking about how afraid we were. Not afraid to play the game, but we wanted to do well because it was televised.” – Teresa Weatherspoon on playing in the first WNBA game
https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/16256278/inside-wnba-inaugural-game-25-seasons-later
Pure Blather 