Shaq and Penny vying for revenge on Hakeem and the Rockets deserves a deep rewind
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- čas přidán 18. 12. 2023
- It’s December 25, 1995. Merry Christmas! We’re in Orlando for a finals rematch between the title losers and the title winners. (or as they prefer to be called The Magic and the 2-time title-winning Rockets.)
The score is tied with 8 seconds left. Shaq, Penny, Nick Anderson and the Magic need a win for revenge. It won't make up for losing the finals, but it's better than nothing. And certainly better than another L. Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler (who's injured) and the Rockets need a win for respect. Wait, didn't I just say the Rockets are repeat champs? Shouldn't that give them respect..?
Let’s get into it. Let’s rewind.
Written and produced by: Clara Morris
Directed and Edited by: Jiazhen Zhang
Motion Graphics by: Phil Pasternak
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Wow I never realized how tough the road to the finals was for the 95 rockets. Jazz, suns and spurs - all conference champions in the 90s
All four series on the road. They went 9-3 on the road (still an NBA record) the entire playoffs against these teams:
Utah: 62-20
Phoenix: 59-23
San Antonio: 62-50
Orlando: 57-25
its the strongest goat case Hakeem's has he faced tougher competition and dominated overall in the 90s.
Stealing David Robinson's lunch money remains one of the most competitive displays I've ever seen in sports. Peak Olajuwon was incredible.
@@ryanr20091- tougher competition? In the watered down, expansion era of the 90s? In an nba finals game the jazz scores 54 points. Lol
hakeem was the best in that era
Shaq and Penny needed more seasons together
Yup, and more depth. Including Brian Shaw, that group was a 7-man rotation at best. Nick Anderson needed a shot doctor and a psychologist and the organization needed a front office presence that better understood ego and personnel in general.
@MarkCampbellTV you not wrong at all. Considering how quick they turned into a contender from the birth of the franchise I would say they overachieved before they were ready.
Facts!! Im in Orlando and always said that
Yep. Even Shaq said that he regret leaving.
Rockets players: We deserve respect as 2x defending champs.
Rockets management: We need you to wear uniforms that look like pajamas.
😂😂😂😂
Like oh those uniforms we just won back-to-back championships in? Yeah let’s get rid of those, gotta sell more jerseys with the new ones we already green lighted
The Jetsons uniforms 😂
I firmly believe that those uniforms cost them the western conference finals
I hated those uniforms so much. Cursed the franchise.
Now we need a Prism for Penny Hardaway! He's got such a fascinating story, especialy coming back home to Memphis to coach his local middle school team to a state championship, then take over the Tigers as a beloved local coach.
Agreed!
Man, it has been fun watching Penny grow from the quite young man he started out as at Memphis State to the man he is now. Shaq and Penny were Shaq and Kobe before Shaq and Kobe in my opinion. If they would’ve found a way to coexist, I believe they might’ve been one of the best one-two tandems the league had ever seen. I watched an interview with Penny and Shaq a while back and Shaq apologized for the role he played in Penny leaving Orlando and Penny admitted that he could’ve done things differently. If the story Shaq tells is true, he was instrumental in getting Penny to come to Orlando after watching him play on the set of Blue Chips. Penny was a monster those first few years in the NBA. The city of Memphis was so proud to have a talented ball player like Penny to represent us. We had a few other players who found limited success in the pros(Vincent Askew, Elliot Perry come to mind) but Penny was the most successful in my opinion. I remember watching the series between the Bulls and the Magic talked about in the video and being torn because I was a big fan of MJ and Pip at the time, but I also wanted to see the hometown hero win and silence the critics and the naysayers who booed when the trade between Hardaway and Chris Weber went down. Although his career in the NBA was short lived and didn’t pan out the way we’d hoped, I still think he made a remarkable impact on the game on and off the courts(the Nike Penny Foamposites at one time were one of the most sought after sneakers on the market as well a T-Mac wearing the number “1” because Penny was one of his favorite ball players, to Anfernee Simons, who currently plays for the Houston Rockets, parents naming him after their favorite Orlando Magic player. Nice video btw and thanks for taking me down memory lane.
gorgeous comment man, penny was great, injuries are the worst@@cobylawson1965
Simons plays for Portland and I believe Penny apologized to Shaq for him leaving Orlando. Shaq left 1st.
There has been many videos on secret base about penny so I don’t think there going to make a personal one it would be nice though
Hakeem’s run 93-95 is pure dominance nobody no one on the planet could stop him
Truth
just like Dirk and Jokic in their championship runs, felt like they cannot miss shots the entire playoff those years.
@@nomooon guck guck guck
He was the best player in the world during that stretch, i was a Barkley fan and really wanted to the suns to get a chip. But that houston team was really good..then MJ returned. Shaq was a beast too, and Robinson, Ewing, Hakeem was amazing
Try 86-96
Nick Anderson had an opportunity to become a great player but those best free throws completely changed him. He was never the same player.
Orange ball doesn't go in hoop means black guy broken forever? Basketball is harsh.
he’s still a millionaire and has probably had sex with dozens of beautiful women. I’ll take that in exchange for missed free throws.
@@castorchuacorny
What I love about this series is that in most episodes, I don’t even know what ends up happening and I actually get excited to see the ending
I love Clara Morris's narration ❤️
she’s the best
Her and Seth are 🐐’s
At least someone does I guess
I always love when she's the narrator
i have Olajuwon at #2 all-time, being a MJ fanatic... The Dream went 6-5 v '86 Celtics&Lakers in playoffs, a truly awesome stat... then went 5-1 v 1st 3-peat Bulls from '91--'93 in regular season... going against the best at his position in the playoffs, Olajuwon bested Ewing, Shaq, and most famously MVP David Robinson during the Rockets 2 Championships...
Bill russell has entered the chat
@@charismatic9904Bill Russell averaged 14ppg on 44%fg for his career.
Bill Russell played when there was only 2 rounds in the playoffs.
Get this, Michael Jordan won 25 of his last 26 Playoff series. No one in the history of the league had a streak that impressive.
@@massdagod 11 titles and dominated guys like wilt. The fact that you're disrespecting somebody who is considered one of the top two of all time along with Jordan shows me your lack of knowledge when it comes to basketball
@@massdagod Yeah, that's what makes Bill Russell hard to rate. No one questions the winning - it's astonishing. But, he played in an era that only had 12 teams, and he had played with like 9 hall of famers. He also played at a time when centers weren't nearly as big and athletic as they would become. Also, for all the losing Wilt did to the celtics, Wilt ALWAYS got his, just his teams weren't really ever good enough to beat them. You also mentioned that his numbers for his career are very pedestrian, which is very true.
@@charismatic9904 Russell didn't really dominate Wilt. Look at their head to head numbers vs. one another. Wilt averaged like 26 and 28 (yes, 28 rebounds!!!) Vs. Russell in the playoffs, and like 30 & 28 vs. him in games overall. The Celtics just had flat out better teams than the Sixers did in that era. The sixers had very good teams, with Hal Greer, Billy Cunningham, Luke Jackson & Chet Walker, but the Celtics always just had a little bit more.
Shaq and Penny were my team, this was my childhood I remember being so mad 😂
If Nick Anderson made 1 free throw the whole finals series would have ended up different.
@@romey2freshI've wanted to believe that for almost 30 years, but they got swept.
@@romey2freshthat's cap
I'm still mad about it lol....but seriously I am
Penny's injuries are really sad. He could have been one of the all time greats.
His body was never meant to last more than 4-6 years in that more physical era. Had he played in today's game, he might've done better.
@@Kickingit06He put too much weight on. Penny didn’t get beat up he just put too much weight on and it affected his knees. He didn’t have injury problems til Shaq left. He had too much pressure on him trying to carry that team
@@1dawg243Ironically pretty much the same trajectory Tracy McGrady, another dominant, tall Orlando G who was on his way to being the very best in the league until his body started giving away due to adding too much weight/muscle to the top of his body rather than the legs.
Both Hardaway and McGrady, due to the playing styles, were high flyers and often had to contort and land in odd ways, and that extra weight didn’t help.
@@MegaRayland 💯💯💯you know exactly what I’m saying!
@@Kickingit06
Similar to Derrick Rose, small fast guys who don't change up how they go to the lane tends to mess up their ankles, hips and knees
Grant Hill suffered the same
Even bigger men like Larry Johnson suffered the same
I'm not a Rockets fan, but I respected their championship. I don't really think it's an asterisk, but I can see why they felt like Rodney Dangerfield. And I always forget how good Andersen was at that time.
When you don’t have to beat the best team in the league, yes it is an asterisk
@user-iq2hy4ug4y the Magic, Suns and spurs were the best team in 95. Period. And Michael was in the 95 playoffs
@@user-iq2hy4ug4ythey did beat the best team in the league tho
@@user-iq2hy4ug4yBest team in the league in 1994 was Seattle. In 1995 the Rockets would've beat the Bulls
@@user-iq2hy4ug4ythey were the best team in the league. How can you be back 2 back and have an asterisk?
I loved that Magic team, they were a huge part of my childhood. Shaq broke my 14 year old heart when he signed with the lakers…😢
I honestly find it hilarious that, out of all the Estaren Conference Powerhouses of the 90s, the Magic were the only ones that beat the Bulls. And, instead of capitalizing on that, they vanished, almost as quicly as they appeared.
KEEP IT COMING SECRET BASE! Dropping hits left and right 🔥
Poor Nick Anderson. Everyone remembers the missed free throws. But when I think of Nick I think of a near half court shot at the buzzer, on the road, to beat Bobby Knight’s Hoosiers and deny them a share of the Big Ten title.
Wow u surely know basketball!
We won the games that mattered. So the Magic can have this one.
When MJ was out league or just coming back to basketball. When Jordan had a full training camp we know how things went.
@@dpistons149nah when Jordan was falling flat on his face.😂😂
Hakeem doesn’t get the respect he rightfully deserved. He played in an era with Kareem, Ewing, Robinson and Shaq. Hakeem could score, rebound, steal and facilitate. And he did all those things at a level above most.
Hakeem is considered one of the greatest and most respected players ever, and was a first ballot HOF. A perennial All Star and All NBA Player, multi-time defensive player of the year etc.
What more respect do you want? XD
As a Houstonian my view is tainted, but when you discuss the all-time greats, Hakeem is either at the end of the list or left off completely. I understand why, but it's hard to internalize when he had such a profound effect on your hometown team and seemed unstoppable in his prime.@@jacobwilliams1223
@@jacobwilliams1223Casuals don't know Hakeem Olajuwon. Especially today when Gen Z knows Nothing about the past
@@mongoslade277 You are aware Hakeem last played pro ball in 2002, over 20 years ago. Course there are some people who don't know him off the top of their head. But he is well respected by fans especially in Houston and typically makes it in most people's starting all time 5.
Just seems like you are looking for a reason to complain about kids these days lol
@@jacobwilliams1223
A perfect example is everyone says they have Hakeem in the starting five. Most don't have him in the top ten or even Top 5 which you can easily debate.
congrats SecretBase,you opened old wounds just before xmas
Rockets beat a 60, a 59 and a 62 win team en route to the 1995 finals. And then beat a 1st seed, 57 win Magic in a sweep.
The 1995 Rockets, the hardest NBA championship.
As a lifelong Magic fan since 1993, this win had me pumped initially, but at the end brought very little happiness. It couldn't erase what happened in the Finals.
We had a potential dynasty brewing beginning in 1994/1995, but then got swept in the Finals.
I was still very optimistic though going in 1995/1996, and then.... Jordan happened in the ECF.
Living in the Midwest, the Bulls were my favorite team (along with everyone else) before Shaq/Penny, and I switched to Orlando thanks to them.
But since 1996 I have despised the Bulls and Jordan.
The Dwight/Jameer years were an absolute blast, but then things got VERY ROUGH after Dwight left (good riddance though).
I have stayed loyal though through and through. Paolo and Franz are the future.
Penny was ROY in my heart, and will always be the GOAT in my heart.
Oh and, as a Magic fan, you might think I feel as though Shaq is the best Center on NBA history. Nope, it's Olojuwan easily.
Go Magic!!!
Bill Russell has entered the chat
This may be your year 2024
As an Orlando fl native and an Orlando Magic diehard fan, this to this day haunts me in what could have been!! A true magic 🪄 fan will never forget the 4 straight free throw misses by Nick Anderson himself. Which eventually lead to the demise of Shaq etc etc….
That was an awesome video. 1990s was so awesome back then.
There is no asterisk next to the Rockets' championship, neither of them. Hakeem was the lone all star in 94 and 95(Drexler wasn't an all star anymore) and led his team to back to back championships. He was the best player of the sport during those two seasons, at least in the playoffs when champions are made.
Just look past who those Rockets teams went during those runs. Absolutely no asterisk anywhere.
There's definitely NO asterisk now because he went on to repeat, but in '94, there was definitely a question as to how things would have played out if Jordan had remained in the league.
Seattle beat the Rockets 12 straight times in that period. They wouldn't have beat Seattle, let alone the Bulls if #23 didn't quit
You're right - Drexler was not an all-star; he was third team all-NBA that season (better than an all-star, in other words). Drexler's biggest issue was becoming stagnant (by his hall-of-fame standards) on an ageing, struggling Blazers team. He had lots left in the tank and Houston knew it.
@@mongoslade277 1990s championship tally: Houston 2, Seattle 0. Also, Jordan did quit; there are no points for non-participation.
@@3411Chad If you count Houston's season wins against Chicago, then you have to count Seattle's season wins against Houston.
Jordan did play in the 94-95 season and playoffs…it wasn’t the Rockets fault that the Bulls lost to the Magic, the team that the Rockets swept in the Finals.
I always like these videos before I even watch now, always so good
Such a brilliant recap, as always, great work!
That humble drop was everything
The 1995 Rockets are the lowest seed to win a championship but the worst regular record to win a championship was the 1978 Washington Bullets who went just 44-38.
Thank you Clara, great stuff per usual. Thanks! Great job SB team!
I simply LOVE Deep Rewind ❤️❤️
My absolute favourite youtube channel delivers again
If Shaq and Penny had won a championship with the Orlando Magic, Shaq would not have joined the Lakers.
Penny wouldn't have gotten hurt.
The duo of Shaq and Penny is underrated.
Shaq went to LA bc Orlando low balled him in negotiations, that doesn’t change
@@user-iq2hy4ug4y If they won a chip, I doubt they would have let Shaq go. The investment would have been worth it in merchandise sales alone.
@@user-iq2hy4ug4yif they had won a championship they offer him more, Ntm it would have been tougher to leave if he had already won there
they probably cant afford to low ball him if they win a championship and shaq probably thinks twice about giving up what he had in Penny... he certainly made enough buyers remorse style comments about the difference in mentality between kobe and penny during his lakers tenure.@@user-iq2hy4ug4y
@@user-iq2hy4ug4ythey wouldn't have low balled him if he was already a champion
its good to see videos are being made over these games. those were the days...damn.
Excellent Clara!
Love this!!! More of these
Your storytelling… WOW. That build up to the final shot was beautifully climactic.
Amazing video. The narrator really made it captivating to watch, especially when detailing Nick Anderson.
( 3:20 ) "... that's ageism..." as a Magic fan then and now, I might not want to admit this is true, but it kinda is. The Orlando Magic were truly seen as "up and coming" and "the hot new team that is going to redefine the league". While the Houston Rockets were still seen as "lucky" and (generally) "over the hill" by many, both casual fans and in the basketball press. The Rockets just were not given their due respect at the time. What only some fans in Orlando saw were the cracks already starting to fracture this Magic team. Despite Penny Hardaway being named player of the week and player of the month to begin the '95-96 season, the ware and usage load that would exacerbate his future injuries was showing. Shaquille O'Neill was a player of the week and would make All - NBA third team, while dealing with injuries that would cause him to miss nearly a third of the season. Shaq was already talking about how the team had not landed any "premier" veterans, how he wasn't getting his recognition because Orlando was a "small market team", and the local Orlando "slantinel" was rallying fans against him (that part was true as heck). Nick Anderson, an important individual scorer (and one time franchise scoring leader), was crumbling from his missed free throws against the Rockets in the previous years Finals and would never again be as dynamic. Horace Grant and Dennis Scott (despite setting the single season and single game three point records, at the time) were showing their age and millage. The other "role players" like Donald Royal, Anthony Bowie, Jon Koncak, etc. did not progress to any notable degree either. When the playoffs rolled around at the end of this 1995 - 96 season the Magic would face the Chicago Bulls, with Nick Anderson's comments driving Michael Jordan to put an end to the Magic's "bright future" as a playoff contender. The fallowing season would see the shake ups that cost the franchise losing Shaq to the Lakers. And a "mutiny" led by Penny and Ho Grant that would cost Brian Hill his coaching job. The Rockets (desperately brining in more old players) and the Magic (losing their star young players to free agency and injury, not finding replacements - i e. the tragedy of picking David Vaughn) would fade from relevance after this 1995 - 1996 season - mainly because Michael Jordan had returned from playing baseball. Time rolls on and we can now... appreciate what the mid 90's Rockets accomplished, and how uniquely great Hakeem was.
Kansas vs. Memphis. 2008 National Championship. Mario's Miracle deserves a Deep Rewind.
Here waiting for the 2022 World Cup Final Rewinder
It's crazy, i read the opening paragraph of the description and immediately knew this was a Clara vid
Little Black Bags appearance also! Love to hear it
I have to agree Hakeem really is one of if not the greatest player of all time I would say it’s him and Jordan everyone else is second tier
I guess you never heard of Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, or Larry Bird.
@@billmorrison9068 I have great players but I don’t believe either one of them is at the level of Jordan or Hakeem
But Jordan WAS in the NBA and he lost to the Magic who got swept by the Rockets.
People like to conveniently forget that, and those who do remember often use the excuse of him just being rusty.
@@blackcurlmagicgrey-sloan8640 I think that it's fair to give the Bulls an asterisk that year, because Jordan was rusty, and only played like 1/3 of the season. The Rockets, however, don't deserve any disrespect related to that.
@@blackcurlmagicgrey-sloan8640 when he had a 55 piece against the Knicks. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@ja8ames nope. He had a 55 piece against the Knicks, so that rust stuff won't work.
@@blackcurlmagicgrey-sloan8640he put up better numbers in the 95 playoffs than in the 96 playoffs. If anyone was rusty, it was his teammates then.
Gimme my snack for this Rewinder Session please!!!!
1988 Miami/Notre Dame needs a deep rewind
yes, yes it does
Gotta love a Penny video, nice job guys.
Well put 🙏
“Thanks for watching, everyone! If you’d like to subscribe, click here. If you’d like more videos, click here or here. If you’d like a snack while you watch videos…you have to get it yourself. I’m so sorry.” 😅😂
You see, this is why I love listening to Clara Morris. Her sense of humor is awesome!
That’s…not humor
Rewinder: 2006 Orange Bowl 3OTs
Beef History: Lindros vs Flyers Organization
Overlap: Greatest College Football Coach (Saban) and the Greatest NFL Coach (Belichick) coaching in the same division
Untitled: Reggie Miller
Untitled: Ken Griffey Junior
Untitled: Jim Kelly
Collapse: Early 90s Bills
Untitled: Red Sox Players (particular Yaz)
Prism: Steph Curry and all those mid major players
Rewinder: The Catch By Willie
Rewinder: Hank Aaron and Bonds breaking the respective HR record
Untitled: Don Nelson
For Don Nelson, he did win as a player under the Red Auerbach Celtics dynasty.
But as a coach, I think it's a good idea...
@@jdapaul1351 it was implied for his coaching career.
I can't call regular season games revenge games since they don't have the same stakes.
Shaq and Penny have been the Michael Jordan of all Shaqs and Pennys
I love you, Clara!
Your voice will never get old ❤
Cap. Major cap. Voice is painful to listen to
Hakeem danced all over Shaq in that finals! Just about every great player has that one vet that just made them look stupid one point of another, it's growing pains
It's been 30 seconds and I already need a Texas vs Washington rewind.
watching this all I could hear was Shaq saying "cmon Nick Anderson!"
Why would the two-time defending NBA champs need any regular season win for “respect”?
People forget 2 teammates of Phi Slama Jama were reunited and they were not gonna lose. They didn't care about no record, only proving the haters wrong. I love the fact Clyde got his ring with his hometown team, that was the real magic.
@@AlldatJazz-rw9wy They weren't worried about proving anything to "haters." Clyde was trying to win a championship. Hakeem was trying to win another. That was their focus.
@@mikewalsh1189 your talking to a real Rockets fan, been one since the late 70s and after. They've been to the finals twice as a lesser seed, they played Boston at a low seed also. Alan Levell, Robert Reed, Calvin Murphy, and Moses Malone. I've seen it all with them. I'm no casual. Especially not when it comes to the Rockets.
@@AlldatJazz-rw9wy Then your previous comment makes even less sense lol
@@mikewalsh1189 yeah you lil dudes be in ya feelings when ya find out how wrong you are. I lived in the era, and saw they games. Your just making 💩up because you don't know what your talking about. My statement made sense, your just slow. See I tried to be cordial just you lil dudes today are stupid and your response proves how ignorant you are.
nice job clara. took a while cuz i liked that dude, but ya won me over.🤜🤛
song @3:50 is fire.
Love fresh Clara in the afternoon.
I just watched this game like 3 days ago, what a low scoring affair. 92-90. The Bulls vs Knicks game from 94 Christmas was 107-104 and it went into OT.
clara one of the best presenters🙏🏼
The magic management single handed ruined championship after championship caliber squad. Never went hard as possible to keep Shaq, told Tim Duncan his family can’t fly on the team plan. Pissed off prime Dwight and Jameer, had shooters like Rasheed Lewis and hedo. Time and time and time again star after star and no title
Take it easy on Nick Anderson, his game was never the same after those free throws
I love these rewinder videos but we need more hockey content!!! I think Patrick Kane’s cup winning goal in 2010 deserves a deep dive
Hockey your ass out of here
All the HOF big man centers of the 90s are crazy. Wonder if we'll ever aee an era of dominate big men again.
Gotta love those December rings.
Luckily I already got a snack to have while watching.
Good night and good game.
I love the host sarcasm😅
Oh yeah the Christmas Day game to which the Magic avenged their humiliating sweep at the hands of the Rockets in the 1995 NBA Finals (well at least in the regular season).
Too bad both of them ended up getting swept in the 1996 Playoffs by the two teams who would eventually meet each other in the NBA Finals to which won by a team reclaiming their spot in the throne led by the man who was still the best player in the NBA coming back just as good as ever who played basketball every single day during the offseason to regain his game back.
Y'all forget Olajuwon was leading a team, and made it to the finals before Mike did. Olajuwon did most of the heavy lifting for the Rockets whereas Jordan has help for most of those years. By the time he won his 2 chips he had nothing left to prove, so with bad knees he coasted the rest of his career. So trying to put him down for not playing his best, is wrong and inconsiderate, not to mention dismissive. If Olajuwon had a team all those years as Jordan had it would be a different story. But we're grateful in Houston for what he did, especially since the NBA was not wanting them to win any chips.
"Hakeem and Drexler were 33. Count them out."
Me, 33: T_T
The fact that back then people thought 33 is an age where players just start to suck is crazy. Even MJ was around that same age and he was destroying everyone at that time.
Hakeem and MJ were in the same draft class.
Orlando had a really well balanced team in that starting five (a dominant center, a dominant tall PG of tremendous ability, a sharp shooter, one of the best PFs of the time, and one of the best defenders of the era). However a huge problem they had is that the bench was never strong. Outside of Brian Shaw, who was a capable of the versatility of Hardaway but never to his ceiling or consistency, when the starters went to the bench it was tough for the team to maintain or extend the lead against better teams.
The Shaq-Penny Magic were 5-1 vs the Rockets in 3 seasons. It's crazy that they only played 3 season together, but as a Rockets fan I'll take being 4-0 against the Magic when it mattered the most.
I was a writer who covered the Rockets back then, and all this talk about not playing against MJ is crap. If you look back, you'll see that during Dream's career the Rockets routinely handled MJ's Bulls, going 12-6 against them between 1984 and 1993 (including 5-1 during the Bulls first three championship seasons). I sat down with Jordan in 1996 and he told me that the Bulls simply had no answer for Hakeem, which is why the Rockets were such a difficult matchup for them. He just raved about Dream, calling him "a small forward in a center's body." Give the Rockets their due.
The Rockets championships will always be above any that exist, just because of the path they had to go through to get them. A sixth seed, 3 50+ teams , and a young team that thought they were gonna beat them. Let's not forget, they gave that mvp to Robinson, they shouldn't have ever done that. When they did, that brought out the goat in Olajuwon. And by the way, the lie they tried to tell on national TV, when they said...."no team has ever come from 0-3, in the playoffs was a straight up lie. The Rockets did in in the first championship run against Phoenix. That's why today's NBA is trash, it all about a narrative.
Penny Hardaway game winning jumper was a REVENGE DEEP REWIND 🏀🔥
The best teams to not win NBA Finals (that specific season);
1969 Lakers
1980 76ers
1995 Magic
1996 Sonics
1998 Pacers
1999 Knicks
2000 Blazers
2001 Bucks
2002 Kings
2012 Thunder
2016 Warriors
Bill Russell, The Magic Man, Jordan, Hakeem, Duncan, Shaq & Kobe were amazing. I think Las Vegas and the refs influenced the 2001 East Conference Finals and 2002 West Conference Finals.
The 01 Bucks don't fare any better the the 76ers did. Nobody was beating the Lakers that year nobody.
2018 Rockets
You left out the 1984 Lakers.
I'd have loved to see a Spurs vs Magic finals in 1995. Olajuwon and the Rockets deserved the win a much as anyone ever has, probably, but poor David Robinson. He wasn't a match for Hakeem 1-on-1 but he was a legit MVP in the sense of leading a winning team, and a championship that year would've changed the narrative mightily for the Spurs.
Jokes on you Clara.. I came prepared 😏
Even if Nick Anderson made those free throws, the Rockets still win in 5. First of all (with exception of the San Antonio) they were down in every playoff series and managed to still win. Second, the Finals format was 2-3-2 instead of 2-2-1-1 like it is now. Chances are the Rockets win Game 2, return home to Houston with 3 straight games and home court advantage and win the series in 5.
Still can’t believe the rockets won back to back chips and then decided to change their uniforms. Imagine the Bulls did that after the first 3-peat
That brief moment in the 90's when the Magic were the team of the future in the present. So sad it fell apart so early. Stupid magic and its dumb fans
Not sure how winning a regular season game translates to "revenge"
This wasn’t a rematch, Clyde was out injured. Magic barely pulled it out.
You can't truly get revenge in a regular season game. Orlando got swept in the finals
Grant always was underrated.
Aww my first Chanukah! :)
Sure….you can have that game Orlando. We’ll take that title.
Penny was so fly
"Hi Penny." lol
ahhh back when 33 was old and ppl are still hating on 39 bron 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Hating on Bron how? Because he is not legitimately in the GOAT conversation?
Look at Shaq and Hakeem's numbers over that series. Hakeem converted at way less than his usual rate but Houston FED him. 116 shots in 4 games to Shaq's 74. As much as people want to blame Nick Anderson the real problem was their coach who let that happen.
Penny and Grant Hill r my two biggest what if's
Sucks nick never recovered from this free throws miss man he was a great player
Barkley’s back gave out for them to lose that 3-1 lead.
No asterisk for the 1995 title. Maybe 1994 but not 1995.
Jordan was back, played nearly 40 min a game with strong shooting percentage and had nearly 27 ppg reg season. Then over 31 ppg in the playoffs. He's an elite athlete who stayed in shape during his baseball venture. I don't buy the rust argument.
Then Orlando eliminated Chicago and Houston swept Orlando after surviving the most brutal western conference gauntlet ever.
Already eating my snack!
I can’t believe they put ‘Michael Jordan wasn’t in the league’ on their championship banner!!
That’s rough!
Sucks cause the Dream would have been more respected if one of those titles had come from beating MJ and the bulls.
Iyo. Those chip still have the utmost respect, because he dominated Robinson who they gave the MVP to before the game, and the Spurs watched in horror and awe as Olajuwon destroyed him.🤣
Deep Dive 2001 Miami Hurricanes football team. Champs. The most loaded future nfl pro bowl team in college History!