Jones on the NBA History of the NBA: 1992-93

As I’ve mentioned before, I became a diehard NBA fan during the 1990-91 season. That’s the season that I watched or listened to every Lakers game and watched the majority of the NBA’s nationally televised games. Anyhow, that’s 18 full seasons of fandom there. Throughout my years as a diehard fan there have been tons of memorable moments. So I’ve decided to revisit all of those memorable moments with a series of posts called the Jones on the NBA History of the NBA. These might not be the consensus most memorable moments during this time, but they are mine. I’m going to go season by season, from 1990-91 to 2007-08. Anyhow, I hope you all enjoy this series of posts.

1992-93

Barkley to Phoenix

The 1992-93 season was one of those seasons that got going before the official start of the season. First, Charles Barkley was traded from Philadelphia to Phoenix for a package that was highlighted by Jeff Hornacek. This was an absolute steal for the Suns, as Barkley was one of the games premiere players. The suns were able to bring in Barkley without giving up their two young All-Stars in Kevin Johnson and Dan Majerle.

The Original Dream Team

After the trade to Phoenix, Barkley would quickly have to focus his attention to helping the first USA Basketball Men’s Olympic Team with NBA players win the Gold Medal. Most believe that this was the greatest basketball team ever assembled, as ten of the twelve players on the roster were members of the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players List (Magic, Bird, Jordan, Barkley, Ewing, Robinson, Drexler, Malone, Pippen, and Stockton). The only real snub was Isiah Thomas. He definitely should have gotten Christian Laettner’s slot.

This is also the team that many feel inspired the world to catch up the U.S. in basketball. Many of the NBA’s top international players got their first dose of the NBA and its stars during the 1992 Olympic Games.

Here are some highlights from the 1992 Team:

Despite all the great things that went on with the team that summer, one snag must be mentioned. Ever the capitalist and loyal Nike endorser, Michael Jordan almost staged a team revolt when he found out that he would be forced to wear a Reebok warm up on the medal stand.

Of course, Michael figured out away to get around this by covering the Reebok logo on his warm up. And you wonder why young players like Carmelo Anthony give ignorant statements like these.

Magic’s First Comeback Attempt

After being diagnosed with the HIV virus, Magic Johnson immediately retired from the NBA. When he retired, he was still one of the top five players in the game (I would say Jordan, Magic, Charles Barkley, David Robinson, and Clyde Drexler were the best five back then). If not for concerns over his health, Magic probably would have come back and led the Lakers to a Finals re-match against the Bulls. Knowing how much he still had left, Magic was just itching to get back on the court. That urge to play grew as Magic showed that he still had it in the 1992 All-Star game and during the 1992 Olympic Games. 

After consulting with his doctors, his wife, and his old Lakers teammates, Magic decided to dive head first into a comeback with the Lakers. This announcement absolutely re-energized the Lakers organization and their fans. I remember seeing pre-season footage of Magic trying to pump up Byron Scott while he lifted weights and getting so excited for the season. Magic oozed confidence and totally had his teammates believing that they could once again be one of the best teams in the NBA. Although the pre-season isn’t really a barometer for anything, take a look at the early results from Magic’s return:

Just when all seemed well in Laker Land, a dark cloud named Karl Malone had to come around and rained on everyone’s parade. Despite playing an entire summer with Magic on the 92 Olympic team, country bumpkin Karl Malone decided that he didn’t feel safe playing against an HIV positive Johnson. Back then there was a lot of fear and misinformation about the HIV virus. But Malone’s assertions were just ridiculous. Look at some of what he told the New York Times right before the season.

As beautiful as this piece by Rick Reilly was on Magic helping to combat fear and ignorance about the virus, it seems like Reilly didn’t account for bumpkins like Malone.

The thing that pisses me off the most about Malone’s actions is that he was totally disrespecting a guy that made it possible for a child molesting, country bumpkin from Louisiana to make millions of dollars playing basketball (Remember, before Magic and Bird, the league was not on steady ground). Yet Malone was so hateful and ignorant that he helped boot one of the best players in NBA history from the game before his proper time. Yeah Malone was one of the greatest players of all-time, but he had no right to singlehandedly bring a premature end to Magic’s comeback attempt. 

And let me tell you a story to show you how much of a class act Magic Johnson is. Even after Malone aided in taking away Magic’s opportunity to return to the NBA while still in his prime, Magic still offered to un-retire his #32 jersey so that Malone could wear it when he joined the Lakers in 2003-2004. Of course, Malone didn’t have the gall to wear the number that he aided in retiring way to early. He eventually ended up wearing #11. But that doesn’t take away from Magic’s gesture. Luckily, the basketball Gods would eventually catch up with Malone (I’ll get into that in later posts).

Not only am I still upset about this from the perspective of a Lakers fan, but also from the perspective of an NBA diehard. Seriously, imagine if we could have had one more Finals between Magic and Michael, or a Western Conference Finals between Sir Charles and Magic. What about Penny Hardaway and Magic Johnson matching up? Or Jason Kidd and Magic? These are things we were possibly denied of mainly because Malone’s ignorance. Obviously, I’m not sure if Magic would have still been as good in a few seasons. I just wish he had the chance to go out on his own terms. 

Shaq Breaks into the League and Breaks Backboards

The NBA hadn’t seen a highly marketable player enter the league since Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley entered the league in 1984. That all changed with the arrival of the Shaq attack.

Shaq's a great example of a guy that understood marketing and business really well before he came into the league. 

According to SI's 1993 article entitled "Triumph of the Swoosh", Shaq was so sure of his marketing strategy that he yawned during Nike's presentation to him:

"Only six or seven college basketball players are invited to formally tour the World Campus each year and witness a Nike presentation, and only Shaquille O'Neal, who was a star at LSU when he look his tour last year, ever showed up in Reebok gear and yawned during the sports marketing team's elaborate spiel. O'Neal had told various agents and marketing types long before leaving college that he had his own ideas about his image and endorsement future. He had no intention of competing with Jordan, Barkley and the others already at Nike for money and air-time. So he signed a $15 million, five-year deal with the R company and went on to sell the Shaq umbrella marketing concept to other corporations for millions more."

Here are some highlights from Shaq's rookie year:

Shaq Gets Drafted

Shaq Raps

Shaq Can Sell Product

Pepsi Commercials

Shaq and the All-Time Great Centers in a Reebok Ad

Russell: “Password?”

Shaq: “Don’t fake the funk on a Nasty Dunk”

First He breaks the backboard in New Jersey

Shaq ended up breaking the backboard in New Jersey after Derrick Coleman posterized him earlier in that game. Shaq was so angry that he just came down and dunked the ball with enough force to rip the entire basket down.

Shaq is also from New Jersey, so I'm sure he might have been trying to show off for some of his family and friends.

Next He Breaks the Backboard in Phoenix

Outside of his personality, the reason Shaq was so marketable was because of his on the court skills. I personally think that if Shaq could have come into the league with work ethic of his old teammate Kobe Bryant, we might be talking about him as the greatest player of all-time. I wonder what Shaq would have been like if he would have been able to keep his weight down to around his Orlando playing weight his entire career. At that weight still would have been able to be physically dominant, but he also would have been able to add some other wrinkles to his game that would have made him more of a force to reckon with. His body also would have probably held up better than it has to date.  Here’s a look at Shaq from his Orlando days:

Reggie Miller and Michael Jordan Have a Little Cat Fight

This is right around the time that Reggie Miller started to assert himself around the league. I don’t know why he decided to start something up with the Black Cat, but MJ really looked like he wanted to kill Miller after his actions.

Lakers Suns First Round Series

After having Magic Johnson retire again before the first game of the season, the Lakers barely made the playoffs. During the season, they saw Sam Perkins get traded to Seattle for Beniot Benjamin and a young Doug Christie. Without Big Smooth and Magic, this team still managed to slip into the playoffs. Of course they still had James Worthy, Byron Scott, A.C. Green, and Vlade Divac, so I guess it shouldn’t have been a surprise that they were able to hold their own against the Suns. Here are some highlights from game two of the series:

After going up 2-0 in the series, it really looked like the Lakers were going to put the Suns away in either game three or four. Of course, that didn’t happen because Charles Barkley put the Suns on his back, and inexperienced guys like Vlade Divac kept making critical mistakes (I remember Vlade deciding to shoot deep jump shots in that game for some reason). 

Although the Suns were able to push the series back to Phoenix, the Lakers still did not give up. They pushed Phoenix into overtime in game five. If not for Dan Majerle’s game winning three pointer, they would have been the first eight seed in NBA History to beat a number one seed (It eventually happened 1995 with the Nuggets and again in 2006 with the Warriors). 

This would be the end of the remaining Showtime Lakers as we knew them. The last remaining members of 1988 championship team were Byron Scott, James Worthy and A.C. Green. After the Suns series, A.C. would go on to sign with Phoenix and Byron would go on to sign with Indiana. Worthy would remain to play one more season before a knee injury forced him to retire, but by then he was only as an absolute shell of his former self. 

Given the results of the series it’s obvious that the Lakers would have been a force in the Western Conference if Magic would have continued his comeback that season. Except if Magic were around, the Suns and Lakers would have been matching up in the Western Conference Finals instead of the first round.  Here’s a look at highlights from the entire series:

Celtics and Hornets First Round Series (Mourning's Series Winner and McHale's Last Game)

Old School v. New School. McHale and Parish v. Zo and LJ. In their first season without Larry Bird, the Boston Celtics fell from their usual spot atop the Atlantic Division standings, to fifth overall in the East. Kevin McHale and Robert Parish were the last remaining members from the 1986 NBA Championship squad. Parish was still starting, but McHale had adjusted back to being a sixth man. Prior to the playoffs, McHale had already announced that this would be his last season. 

As 1993 was the end of McHale’s career, it was also the beginning for Zo and LJ. Zo had just come off a spectacular season where many thought he might challenge Shaq for the Rookie of the Year award and LJ had just finished up a fantastic follow up to his Rookie of the Year campaign. The two were the major contributors to the Hornets making the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. 

Boston wasn’t all old fogies, as they also had young star and leading scorer, Reggie Lewis, on their side. In fact, despite Charlotte having the home court advantage, many saw the Celtics as favorites in the series. That all changed when Reggie Lewis collapsed in game one with a mysterious heart ailment that would eventually lead to his untimely death. 

After Lewis went down, the series became tightly contested, eventually going to a fifth and deciding game played in Charlotte. With Boston leading 103-102 with a few seconds to go on the clock in game five, Charlotte inbounded the ball to Zo Mourning at the top of the key. What happened next was one of the top moments in NBA playoff history. I mean, how many people have ended playoff series with one buzzer beating shot? And how many of those have been rookies?

This would end up being Kevin McHale’s last NBA game. Sadly, Reggie Lewis would also never play in the NBA again.

Barkley’s Series Winner over David Robinson

With Phoenix up 3-2 in their series against David Robinson and the San Antonio Spurs, Charles Barkley had the chance to close out the series with the Suns. Only problem was that the Spurs covered Barkley with the length of one of the greatest defensive centers in NBA history. Would Barkley be able to score over Robinson? Well, I guess you’ll just have to see for yourself: 

This was the first of many embarrassing playoff moments for David Robinson. It seems like he was embarrassed by one of the greats in each of the playoffs throughout the 90s. Don't worry, we'll make sure to cover all of them.

Jordan’s “The Shot II” on the Cavs in the Second Round 

After Michael Jordan torched the Cavs in the 1992 Eastern Conference Finals, the Cavs decided that they needed to sign someone to help stop the unstoppable Mr. Jordan. Luckily for the Cavs, Gerald Wilkins—a guard that had seen some success against Jordan while playing for the Knicks in the previous year’s playoffs—was a free agent. Wilkins of course marketed himself as a Jordan stopper. Good way to get you a nice free agent contract, but a quick way to motivate the type A Jordan to want to destroy the Cavs more than before. Of course, Jordan was motivated, Wilkins couldn’t stop Jordan, and the Bulls went on the sweep the Cavs. But they didn’t just sweep the Cavs. They swept them on another big time shot aptly named “The Shot II”.

After the abuse the Cavs had to take from Jordan throughout his career, I guess it’s only fair that they now have the player that could supplant Jordan as the greatest player of all-time.

Knicks and Bulls Battle it Out in the Eastern Conference Finals

This series was a continuation of one of the best playoff epic seven game second round series from the previous season. Quickly, this series also became an instant classic. 

In the off-season the Knicks became even more of a half court/defensive minded team with acquisition when the traded offensive minded point guard Mark Jackson for the tough-nosed, defensive minded point guard, Doc Rivers and forward Charles Smith. The Knicks became the best defensive team in the league and earned the best record in the East. 

With home court advantage and the previous year’s proof that they could give Jordan more trouble than anyone, many thought that the Knicks might be the team to knock off Jordan and his two-time Champion Bulls. The Garden was absolutely electric in those days. New Yorkers could smell a championship, so it was going to take a lot for the Bulls to be able to overcome the Knicks home court advantage. Game one absolutely lived up to all the hype.

Game one lived up to all the hype. It was tightly contested from start to finish, and ended with one of the biggest exclamation points in NBA playoff history.

YouTuber TRJ22487 has the entire fourth quarter posted.

By the time the series got back to Chicago, the Knicks were up 2-0. The Knicks held Jordan to 37% shooting (22 of 59) through the first two games and look like they might actually knock of the Bulls. In game 3 the Knicks performed their best defensive effort on Jordan, holding him to 3 of 18 shooting and 22 points. Despite this effort, the Knicks got trampled by 20. Realizing that the Knicks were out for blood, Jordan played the roll of facilitator in this game, racking up eleven assists. Pippen was the star of the day, scoring 29 points on 10 for 11 shooting. Next to the 1991 Finals series against the Lakers, this might have been Pippen’s best series during the Bulls Championship run. 

After basically being shut down in game 3 of the series, MJ made sure to come out with one of the best playoff performances of his career in game 4. His airness made 18 of his 30 shots, scoring 54 points and helping his Bulls even the series at two games each. 

You can also catch the entire game here.

The Bulls had gotten themselves back in the series by beating the Knicks at their own game. They became more physical than the Knicks, and halted their offense with their full court pressure defense. 

Game five would also end up being an epic battle. Despite an outstanding triple double performance by Michael Jordan, the game still came down to a final shot. 

I guarantee I know who Charles Smith’s vote for greatest defensive player of all-time would go to.

Anyhow, here are highlights from the entire game:

YouTuber NBA Classics, has the entire game five posted. I highly recommend you check it out.

After taking homecourt advantage away from the Knicks in game five, the Bulls would come home and close out the series in game six. This would set up the Bulls to be the first team since the Bill Russell led Boston Celtics to win three straight championships.

Note: This was the series that the report on Jordan’s gambling was released. In anger, Jordan stopped talking to all reporters, except for his weed carrier/main man Ahmad Rashad. Many people think that this scrutiny is part of what drove Jordan from the game.

Sir Charles v. MJ in the NBA Finals

After overcoming a lack of home court advantage in their previous series against the Knicks, the Bulls would once again have to overcome not having the home court in their series against the Suns. With the stacked Phoenix Suns, many thought this would be the best NBA finals match up since the Celtics and Lakers squared off in the 80s. 

At this point in time, Jordan was the number star in the NBA (and probably all of sports). Barkley was probably the second most popular player in the NBA at that time, so of course Commissioner Stern was quite happy with a match up of two of his most popular teams and his two most popular players. 

Despite the Suns home court advantage, it was obvious at the start of game one that the Bulls were extremely confident. It’s like they knew that if they could survive the Knicks, their rabid Madison Square Garden fans, and their tough nosed style of play, that they could overcome anything. 

Unlike the Knicks the Suns weren’t a team that focused on defense. They didn’t have a scheme or a player to contain or slow down Michael Jordan. And you could see that right from the jump in game one. 

In game two, Jordan came back with an even better performance. Jordan scored 42 points in this game, stacking the series odds heavily in the favor of the men from Chicago. A desperate Barkley did have 42 points of his own in the game, but it just wasn’t enough to stop the Bulls.

With the Suns desperate for a win, they were able to push escape game three with a win. But it wasn’t easy. The game ended up needing three overtimes to be decided. Here are some highlights from the game:

If not for Stacey King’s blunder at the end of the third overtime in game 3 (Bulls fans were probably wondering why he was even out there), the Bulls would have been up 3-0 in the series. But then we likely wouldn’t have been able to witness Jordan come back with his greatest scoring effort in an NBA Finals game.

Michael Jordan is the absolute king of bouncing back from a sub-par effort (yeah, I guess 44 points in three overtimes is subpar for MJ) with a spectacular performance. Game 4 was just another one of those moments for MJ. I mean, really…who drops a double nickel in an NBA Finals game? That’s just madness!!!

Most expected the Bulls to close out the series in game five, but despite a 41 point effort from Jordan, the Suns were able to survive another game and push the series back to Phoenix.

After Jordan scored at least 40 points in four straight games, Jordan’s series performance was destined to be considered the greatest in NBA Finals history. 

Most people remember game six for Paxson’s game winner. However, it should be Jordan’s spectacular performance fourth quarter performance that everyone remembers. Jordan didn’t reach 40 points in game six, but except for John Paxson’s game winning three pointer, he did score every single point for the Bulls during the fourth quarter of that game. The Suns gave the Bulls everthing they had in game six and really looked like they would be able to win the game. But MJ was once again just too damn good. Here are the highlights from the contest:

This would be the last we would see of Jordan in the NBA until the spring of 1995. Although Jordan would go on to have many more great playoff performances, this series might have shown us Michael Jordan at his absolute peak. Averaging 41 points per game in the NBA Finals during that era of basketball is just freaking incredible. I’m just happy I was old enough to witness and remember it all.