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Most Exciting Moments in Basketball History

Most Exciting Moments in Basketball History

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Basketball is one of the most exciting sports in the world, so it’s no wonder that it has been the product of some of the most exciting moments in sports history. The following moments, from the NBA, NCAA college basketball, and the Olympics, represent some of the most exciting events that have ever occurred on a court, and make all basketball fans remember why they love the game.

Sources: BleacherReport.com, BusinessInsider.com, NBADraft.net, TriangleOffense.com, ListVerse.com

ESPN.com
ESPN.com

Argentina topples the USA in the 2004 Olympics

The United States has long been known for its dominance in basketball, but 2004 was a huge moment for the Argentinian team, led by NBA star Manu Ginobili. Argentina dramatically toppled the U.S. team in the semi-finals, and went on to win the gold over Italy. It represented a shift as the rest of the world finally began to catch up to the U.S., though the Americans would go on to reclaim their title in the 2008 Olympics.

Cloudfront.net
Cloudfront.net

Kobe and Shaq’s monstrous ally oop

In 2000, Kobe and Shaq helped to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a championship ring under new coach, Phil Jackson. But more than the championship, the duo are remembered for the monstrous ally oop, Kobe to Shaq, in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals with 40 seconds left on the clock. The dunk put them up by six, and helped the Lakers advance to the finals, where they would ultimately prevail and go on to three-peat, creating the Lakers dynasty of the early 2000s.

SIKids.com
SIKids.com

Willis Reed rallies the New York Knicks to victory

Willis Reed had four points in game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals. That statistic in itself is not impressive. The context, however, is the stuff that movies are made of. In game 5, Reed tore a muscle in his right thigh, and was counted out for the rest of the series – given he could barely walk. But in game 7, he decided to play through the pain for the first few minutes, starting the game and scoring two baskets before leaving the floor. His commitment to his team rallied the Knicks to their first NBA championship, and sent Madison Square Garden into a frenzy for the entirety of the game.

CloudFront.net
CloudFront.net

Jerry West’s 60-foot buzzer beater

Earlier in the 1970 NBA Finals, before Reed had the chance to rally the Knicks to victory, Jerry West was the talk of the series. In game 3, he launched a 60-foot shot from well beyond half court that somehow found its way into the hoop before the buzzer sounded at the end of regulation. Given that 3-pointers didn’t exist in the NBA until a decade later, West’s shot was only enough to send the game into overtime, in which the Lakers eventually lost, but the buzzer beater remains one of the greatest shots of all time.

SIKids.com
SIKids.com

George Mason’s 2006 Cinderella run the NCAA Final Four

The NCAA tournament is always full of surprises, but Cinderella stories rarely make it past the Sweet Sixteen. In 2006, however, George Mason, a tiny university in Washington, D.C., surprised everybody by upsetting Michigan State, North Carolina, Wichita State, and UConn in short order – an unbelievable feat, given that North Carolina and UConn in particular were favorites of the tournament. They ended up losing in the Final Four to eventual champion Florida, but will always be remembered for one of the most exciting runs in college basketball history.

FifteenMinutesWith.com
FifteenMinutesWith.com

Magic Johnson in the 1980 NBA Finals

In 1980, Magic Johnson secured his name as one of the all-time greats when he dropped 45 points, pulled down 15 rebounds, and racked up 7 assists during game 6 of the NBA Finals, earning the Lakers the championship. The feat is even more impressive when you take into account that Lakers superstar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had to sit out the game with a sprained ankle, and Johnson ended up playing all five positions throughout the game. And it’s more impressive still when you remember that Magic was a 20-year-old rookie. Yeah, that’s right.

SneakersAddict.com
SneakersAddict.com

Michael Jordan’s last moment as a Chicago Bull

His Airness will always be remembered as one of the best players to ever play the game, and finished his time as a Chicago Bull in a way that befit the rest of his illustrious career. The 1998 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz was Jordan’s shining moment, as he clinched the championship for the Bulls in game 6. With less than 20 seconds on the clock, Jordan stripped the ball from Karl Malone, juked Byron Russell out of his shoes, and hit a shot from the top of the key to give Chicago the game, and the series. He finished with 45 points, and the undying love and devotion of every Chicago Bulls fan on the planet. Enough love and devotion to pretend his Washington Wizards “comeback” never happened.

BallisLIfe.com
BallisLIfe.com

Derek Fisher’s .4-second comeback

four-tenths of a second isn’t normally enough time to do anything, but nobody told Derek Fisher that. In 2004, he heaved off a last-ditch effort in game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals to give the Lakers the game, and eventually the series in game 6 over the San Antonio Spurs. It also came on the heels of an incredible, off-balance shot from Tim Duncan that should have given the game to the Spurs. And it’s also worth noting that Fisher was maybe the fifth option on the Lakers team at the time, after Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Gary Payton, and Karl Malone, so the fact that the ball ended up in his hands is a miracle in itself.

Uproxx.com
Uproxx.com

Vince Carter’s “Dunk of Death”

In the 2000 Olympics, Vince Carter executed one of the most spectacular game-time dunks of all time, quickly dubbed the “Dunk of Death.” During the gold medal game against France, which the USA went on to win 106-94, Vince Carter nabbed a steal and went on to deliver a monster slam dunk after leaping over the head of the 7’2 Frédéric Weis. It became the moment that highlighted the superstar potential of Carter, and defined Weis’s career as “that guy that Vince Carter dunked over.”

Commons.Wikimedia.com
Commons.Wikimedia.com

Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game

March 2, 1962 became one of the most talked about moments in basketball history, when NBA legend Wilt Chamberlain set the league single-game scoring record by scoring 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors against the New York Knicks. His final shot, an ally oop slam dunk with 46 seconds left on the clock, sent the arena into a frenzy – so much so that the last bit of the game was never played. The Warriors won 169-147, and Wilt became a hands-down hall of famer before the NBA was even popular.