Favourite NBA season

[Matthew]

Which year did you guys enjoy the most as an nba fan? Mine was the 96/97 season. It had virtually everything. Shaq had just gone west, Karl Malone was the mvp, Jordan was the finals mvp and scoring champ. Glen Rice was the sharpest ive ever seen any shooter in one season, and penny was maybe at his best against miami when he dropped back to back forty point games. Spree was incredible with 24 ppg. And iverson, stephon, shareef, kobe, jermaine oneal, peja, steve nash, ray allen and antonie walker were all rookies
Plus the team records were amazing. The bulls had 69 wins, miami 61. Utah had 64, seattle 57, along with Houston. The lakers had 56. And also in the east the knicks had 57, atlanta 56, detroit 54 and charlotte had 54( they qualified as sixth! with 54 wins!). So much parity in both conferences.
They playoffs were unbelievable. 5 series went the distance, from rex chapmans miracle buzzer beater to force ot in game 4 (which they lost) against seattle, to the knicks/heat part 1 fight... to the scoring of individual players. Rice nearly had 40 in game 2 against the knicks, penny had 2 forty point games, shaq and rex chapman also had 40 point out bursts. and mj had 55 against washington before they were wizards. The finals was the best ive ever seen.. from the game 1 winner to the jazz fightback at home, to mj scoring 38 in game 5 and 39 in game 6, to steve kerr, scottie and toni sealing title number 5... just amazing.

And lets not forget seeing the top 50 players at all star weekend. The last time i saw wilt on live tv.

I love this game

[Stevan]

I'd probably have to agree with you there Matthew, that season had everything. The playoffs that year were real good, as well as having great veteran teams going at it, up and comming young teams like the Bullets were beginning to emerge (though disappear at the same time ). The great rivalries and stories were being written. Out West Utah and Houston played the conference finals series which was amazing, finishing with Johnny Stock's buzzer beating three. The Rockets had a great year that year too! From memory they won their first... 12 or 13 games? I remember the Bulls and the Rockets comming out blazing that year. I felt those two teams deserved to be in the finals.

Yeah that was one of my fav years from recent times, that I actually got to see. 94-95 was kinda interesting too, had a bit of drama to it with MJ's return.

[Matthew]

Yeah and remember the bullets and cavs played the final game of the season which decided who would be the 8th seed.. I actually thought the bullets could beat the bulls, they played them really hard, and if mj wasnt mj, the bulls couldve been swept. I guess thats the value of mj
Detroit got off to a killer start as well, grant hill was playing like the 90's version of oscar roberston. Speaking of which, how about MJ's triple double in the all star game . Iverson crossed up mj, brent barry's behind the head, over the shoulder pass to rodney rogers against the celtics... barkley getting like 31 rebounds against his old team on opening night, pippens 47 against denver... i could go on all night
if only it was 1997 all over again!
I wonder if Barkley ever actually wore a dress after he lost that rebounding bet against rodman... as good as houston was, utah was better. Pick and roll baby

[Stevan]

brent barry's behind the head, over the shoulder pass to rodney rogers against the celtics...

It was to Lamond Murray

Matt Maloney impressed me that year, I thought he was the next Johnny Pax and would be around for a solid decade. Wrong.

Another up and comming young team, the Minnesota Timberwolves! I think that was their first playoff appearance and they were swept by the Rockets. Who would have thought they'd still be trying to get out of the first round. I think that was the series KG had that amazing tip dunk where he just about caught the ball at his waist, or brought it down to his waist after catching it.

[Matthew]

It was to Lamond Murray

Same shit, different number

Lol, Matt maloney.. he had 8 3's against the sonics in one game. What a gun! In the playoffs too..Hey remember rony seikly? he went off in 97 too- 17.3 ppg, 9.5rbg and over 50% from the feild. Heheh and the clippers made the playoffs that year. Brent Barry is such a nerdy looking fuck, imagine him and matt maloney as your starting backcourt! How could anyone forget boston that year? They had toine as centre, david wesley as their enforcer and rick fox as their goto guy
The memories
MJ deserved the mvp that year as well..

[Andrew]

Mine was the 96/97 season

I believe a Simpsons reference is appropriate. I too would like to express my fondness for that particular season.

I guess I'd pick just about any of the seasons the Bulls won the title, but the 96-98 championship runs are probably my top three. I might call it a tie between 95/96 and 96/97.

[Dan's Brain]

Mine was the 96/97 season

I believe a Simpsons reference is appropriate. I too would like to express my fondness for that particular season.

Is there ever a time when a Simpsons reference isnt appropriate? Hell no. I'm gonna go for MJ's farewell, Vol. 2. 97-98. Timmy D's rookie year. When the Nets made the playoffs for the first time in ages on the backs of an awesome lineup of players:

C. Jayson Williams (one of the league's more disappointing stories. He was my favourite player before the leg and gun stuff)
PF. Keith Van Horn (sadly, the best year he's ever played)
SF. Kendall Gill (at the height of his game)
SG. Kerry Kittles (one of the top candidates to replace MJ at the time)
PG. Sam Cassell (played out of his mind. unlucky not to be an all-star that year)

Chris Gatling and Rony Seikaly off the bench too. Great to watch.

That was also the year that P.J. Carlesimo's neck got in the way of Spree's hands. Drexler retired.

It was probably the best year for Rookies in a few years as well, apart from this season. Duncan was ROY and an All-Star and All-NBA first team, Van Horn came on strong after missing first 20 games of the year. Brevin Knight, Zydrunas Ilguaskas, Derek Anderson and Cedric Henderson all got huge minutes for the Cavs. Ron Mercer formed a great nucleus of young talent with Antoine Walker in Boston. T-Mac did a bit for the Raptors. Tim Thomas, Maurice Taylor, Chauncey Billups all had double figure scoring averages.
The Nuggets were stinking up the league then too. They won 15 games i think.

Shaq, Karl Malone, Tim Duncan, Michael Jordan and Tim Hardaway were the All-NBA first team.
Rod Strickland led the league in assists.

The Bulls won their 6th title and essentially said goodbye to MJ, Phil Jackson, Pippen, Rodman and Luc, paving the way for a team of world beaters: Bill Wennington, Dickey Simpkins, Toni Kukoc, Ron Harper and Brent Barry.

[Shep]

keith van horn's best season was 99/00

[.]

The 1997/98 season & the Lock-Out season (1998/99). I just loved seeing the 4 Lakers All-Stars play together (Shaq, Eddie Jones, Van Exel and Kobe). I remember how excited I got when Kobe became the youngest All-Star starter ever , and the Jordan/Kobe matchup in that same game. Unfortunally I moved to the Netherlands during that time, so I wasnt really able to watch alot of Lakers games nor any NBA games. So my grandpa just sended me a bunch of Laker tapes from that season. The Lock-Out season was very enjoyable IMO, I was just so happy when they anounced the NBA would start again. Plus the Glen Rice and Dennis Rodman addition to the Lakers was really cool. Even tough The Worm didnt play that long, I enjoyed every minute he was on the court and grabbing those boards and making those great hustle plays. I remember he had a nice rebound, made a beautifull pass to Kobe on the other end, and made a 360 dunk after being fouled by some Grizzlies player (I think it was Felipe Lopez). And who can forget the game winning block by Shaq on Cuttino Mobley in game 1 of the play-offs vs the Rockets ......I thought they were gonna give a foul on Robert Horry, cause he kinda slapped him while he was going up, but luckely they didnt

[Matt]

yeah i gotta agree with you Matthew
don't forget that sweet tip dunk that MJ did in the all-star game off the Grant Hill miss wasn't that also the year Chris Gatling made it to the All-Star game, he had like 18, 19ppg off the bench, and was sencond to Jordan in pp/48min Grant Hill was amazing, Barkley was around and watching him was sweet, Penny tearing it up, Steve Smith had that self alley oop play (way better than T-Macs) although i'm not sure if it was that season or the earlier...but anyway, Smith went for a pass, but the defender deflected it and the all rebounded off the glass and Smith pounced on it. Richmond was kickin ass, Rice had the All star record but lost to the Bulls the next game........so many good memories from that year

[Bill Russell]

Mine would be the 1st season I got into watching/playing basketball... That season when the Bulls beat the Blazers on the Finals

[DipSetVC]

2000-2001 Definitely, that's when dreams came true for Raptor Fans!

[Amphatoast]

Mine was the lock out season when the Knicks somehow made the playoffs at 8th seed and went the full distance ( including a classic Knicks vs. Heat 1st round) only to be stopped by the twin towers.

[GloveGuy]

and Tim Hardaway were the All-NBA first team.

Gary Payton actually...

Check out the 96/97 rookie class. AI, Kobe, Jesus, Toine, Starbury, Reef, Jermaine, Peja, Nash, WALTER and Todd Fuller!

[Robby]

I have to go with the 96-97 season as well. There were so many great teams that year like Chicago, Utah, Houston, Seattle, Miami, LA, and New York. The regular season was great. I still remember how the Bulls were 12-0 or something like that and the Jazz stopped their streak. That was also the last good year for Dream and Ewing because their games slipped drastically the next couple of years due to injuries.

The playoffs were the best I've ever seen. Penny just torched Miami in their first round series and the Pistons came oh so close to taking on the Bulls that year. Also that Houston - Seattle series was a lot of fun to watch. And I don't know if I'll ever see an NBA Final as good as the 97 version because every game that series had so many subplots, the biggest of which can be seen on Stevan's avatar. BTW, isn't that the same picture you had in your 96-97 season patch.

[Filip]

Gotta say as everyone else (which sucks) the 96/97 season.
A tv-showed called "NBA ACTION" showed the highligts from
the NBA every saturday which was great cause that was the only way to see anything from the NBA here in sweden.
Anyway there were some awesome stats and players at that time.

I will start with Grant Hill who did a unsmegingbeliveable season, almost
avering a triple double everygame, with the stats 21.4ppg,9rpg and 7.3apg (!).
He did mad power dunks throwing himself to the basket with vegance and slaming it down on strong centers like Alonzo Mourning.

At that time Shawn Kemp had his prime days, playing for the Seattle Supersonics.
He weight about 30lbs less and avering about 18ppg. Not only did he post great numbers he also had mad dunks, he and Gary Payton was almost as good as Stockton and Karl Molone.
Anyway, Gary paytong throwed allyops to Kemp all the time.

As for Stockton he dished out 10.5apg in just 35.3mpg, which todays player are having a great difficulity to do.

Today NBA also have lack of good centers, but then it was dreamteam centers like David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Alonzo Mouring, Patrick Ewing, Dikembo Mutambo and Shaquille O'neal offcourse that dominted the league.

Dominique Wilkins (Most underated NBA player in the world BTW)
was playing for San Antonio Spurs and had totally forgott that he was 37 years old, avering 18.3ppg in just 30.9mpg, 37years old. And oh yes, not wanna miss to talk about the dunking here, he had furious dunks, like
Grant Hill he was taking it hard to the hoop in traffic slaming it down.
Tell me someone else 37year old NBA veteran that is able to do that!

My favorite team Rockets had a killer lineup, they had old but great players.
The Dream was a one of the 3 best centers in the league, clyde Drexler was a great allround player, and Charles Barkley came form Phonenix and help Rockets with their rebounding.

If Lebron James played at that time he wouldn't be any special comparing to (then) rookies like Allen Iverson scoring 23.5ppg, grabbing 4.2rpg and dished 7.5apg, Starbury (a then Timberwolves player) posted up the stats 15.8ppg and 7.8apg in just 34.7mpg.
Other great rookies (today allstar players) was Antonie Walker, and Shariff Abdur Rahim.
Kobe was also rookie that season but played from the bench, avering 7.8ppg in about 15mpg.

Almost finished, just one last player, and that is Glenn Rice.
He had his Carrer of his life playing in Charlotte Hornets, avering 26.8ppg and hiting 47% of all his 3points attemps. Not impressed? He has
the record of scoring the most in a allstar quarter. (Don't remember how
much tough)

And I haven't even beggin to talk about the playoff.

[Robby]

I will start with Grant Hill who did a unsmegingbeliveable season, almost
avering a triple double everygame, with the stats 21.4ppg,9rpg and 7.3apg (!).
He did mad power dunks throwing himself to the basket with vegance and slaming it down on strong centers like Alonzo Mourning.

He also had a great dunk over Mount Mutombo.

The Dream was a one of the 3 best centers in the league

He was the best center in the NBA that year. No one could stop him. The best play in the all-star game, other than MJ's free-throw putback, was when he humiliated Laetner at the all-star game with his dream shake, and he was dominant in the playoffs.

At that time Shawn Kemp had his prime days, playing for the Seattle Supersonics.
He weight about 30lbs less and avering about 18ppg. Not only did he post great numbers he also had mad dunks, he and Gary Payton was almost as good as Stockton and Karl Molone.
Anyway, Gary paytong throwed allyops to Kemp all the time.

Sadly, that was the last hurrah for Kemp and Payton.

[matiass]

mj scoring 38 in game 5

and with food poisoning
the best performance i ever seen in an NBA game.

amazing season!!!

[GloveGuy]

was when he humiliated Laetner at the all-star game with his dream shake

HAHA! Christian Laettner in the ASG! Also guys like Gatling, Googs, Baker, Shremph. Look at them now!

[Old School Fool]

1996-97 and 2003-2004

the 96-97 Season was GREAT!

Dominique Wilkins played for the Spurs

Kobe coming off the Bench and OWNING everyone

Allen Iverson Cracks Jordans Ankles!

Allen Iverson Dunking left and right

Garnett was Called "The Kid" and was throwin down some NASTY Dunks!

Throwback Jerseys

Kobe in the Dunk Contest

Shaq blocking Jon Barry's Lay-Up so hard that The ball almost Put a HOLE in the floor and Jon Barry landed on his ASS

My Homie G Spud Webb was a Free Agent

Dominique Wilkins (Most underated NBA player in the world BTW)
was playing for San Antonio Spurs and had totally forgott that he was 37 years old, avering 18.3ppg in just 30.9mpg, 37years old. And oh yes, not wanna miss to talk about the dunking here, he had furious dunks, like
Grant Hill he was taking it hard to the hoop in traffic slaming it down.
Tell me someone else 37year old NBA veteran that is able to do that

SERIOUSLY?! WHOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

[Andrew]

Kobe coming off the Bench and OWNING everyone

Are you sure you're not thinking of 1997/98? Kobe was much more impressive in his second season - in 96/97 he didn't get much of an opportunity to show what he could do.

[Nick]

Well in 1997 i was 10 years old... and i wasn't really into NBA back then...

I would have to say this season has been the most enjoyable for me. I couldn't be bothered listing reasons why... i've done so much typing this morning. But just seeing players play in new teams is so interesting... and seeing the start of two all stars in LeBron and Melo... i've loved it.

[Dan's Brain]

and Tim Hardaway were the All-NBA first team.

Gary Payton actually...

Check out the 96/97 rookie class. AI, Kobe, Jesus, Toine, Starbury, Reef, Jermaine, Peja, Nash, WALTER and Todd Fuller!

My mistake on Payton, i was thinking of the year before when Tim Bug was All-NBA.

But Peja wasn't a rookie that year. He was drafted in '96 with those guys, but didnt make his debut until the lockout year after playing in Europe.

But that certainly was a good rookie class. You forgot about Camby and JYD, even though the Dog did about as much that year as Todd Fuller is doing now.

[wangster]

I only started watching the NBA in the 98/99 season so I'm not as enlightened as the other posters but 2000/2001 has been the most exciting season for me so far.

Being in Canada, I followed the Raptors and that was the year they almost made it into the Eastern Finals. Just a difference of an inch and Vince Cartor and the Raptors could have gone much further. I still think about what could have happned in that game 7 against Philly if Vince hadn't gone to his graduation in the morning of that day...

While the Raptors was the highlight for me that season, there were some other exciting playoffs series and the game 1 of the Finals wasn't bad at all. Everyone was expecting the Lakers to go a perfect 15-0 in the postseason judging from their momentum going into the Finals but Eric Snow and the Sixers made things very interesting with that game-winning/upsetting shot. The Lakers still dominated for the next four games though....

I believe that was also the year Steve Nash (actually more like Dirk Nowitzki who was carrying the team) and the Mavericks put themselves in the radar after long years of dormancy. They managed an impressive comeback win against the heavily-favored Utah Jazz which featured a down-to-the-wire game 5, and put up a respectable fight against the Spurs in the battle of the Texans. Since then, the Mavs have been considered one of the elites in the league, and Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki (two of my favorite players) earned recognition.

So 2000/2001 for me.

[Stevan]

Man this thread has exploded!

Speaking of Dominique, he got in the top 10 dunks with that tip in over someone I can't remember.

Tyson: In 1998 I remember Ron Mercer and Chauncey Billups being "the backcourt of the future" for the Celtics! I was pretty disappointed when they eventually got rid of both. They got Paul Pierce, and he would be alright matched up with Chauncey at least.

Allen Iverson dunked on the Magic in Orlando, with a nice baseline move --> two handed jam, quite tasty. He also broke one of Wilts rookie records for scoring 40 points in X number of games in a row. In the mid 90's, that's damn impressive! The 76ers blew though

Hawks-Pistons first round, game 5, a chance for Detroit to win, Grant Hill takes it to the rack for what looks like a sure layup, and Mutombo recovers to block the shot sort of from behind - pinned it on the backboard!

Mitch Richmond was pretty good too...

So much stuff happened that season, it's mind boggling.

LOL, Greg Ostertag blocked a Shaq dunk! Shaq hit a buzzer beater to beat the Jazz

And I don't know if I'll ever see an NBA Final as good as the 97 version because every game that series had so many subplots, the biggest of which can be seen on Stevan's avatar. BTW, isn't that the same picture you had in your 96-97 season patch.

Heheh, yeah that's the same pic from the patch, just went to my old site the other day to get it. Atleast somebody remembers the days when I was of some use