North Station Sports

This post season has certainly not lacked for amazing moments.

The NBA marketing machine has had another fantastic post season with their latest edition of “Where Amazing Happens” Commercials.

This round of playoff commercials have been so fantastic that even non basketball fans have applauded them.

The avid NBA fan, 30 years of age or older, probably remembers watching 3 of the 4 commercials live. Anyone younger then 30 years old has seen all four of those commercials on highlight reels.

Each commercial is a snippet of NBA history that is revisited in the most unique and emotional fashion. The commercials conjure up emotions that I had long forgotten.

I don’t know if it’s music, the sound of forgotten broadcasters voices, the drama of the crowd emerging from the empty stands or the different perspective of a play I have seen so many times that invokes emotional chills. The same chills I first felt when I watched the plays live so many years ago.

Even then, at such a young age, I knew I was watching something memorable and historic.

There is, however, one major era missing from this series of commercials.

The Michael Jordan Era has not yet made an appearance. I am sure the NBA is saving Jordan’s highlight for the Grand Finale that starts this week.

I have examined the story behind each commercial below.

Enjoy “NBA History; Where Amazing Happened”…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc2Lj3akflc&hl=en&fs=1&]

1980 NBA Finals – Doctor J’s “Baseline Move” vs. the Los Angeles Lakers

Game 4 of the 1980 NBA Finals featuring Doctor J. and his 76ers vs Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and his LA Lakers, featuring a 20 year old rookie named Magic Johnson.

The play by play was executed by the legendary Brent Musberger.

Musberger would announce as Julius Erving fell to the ground, “watch this fantastic moooove by the Doctor!”

This episode is bone chilling. The way the Spectrum’s customary, misty-upper level darkness gives way to the looming crowd, in hysterics, sends shivers down my spine.

This commercial also showcases a camera angle never before seen. Though the angle does not properly accentuate the greatness of the shot nor the degree of difficulty in which it was pulled off, it does offer a different perspective for one of the NBA’s signature highlights.

The 76ers won the game, 105-102, to even the series 2-2. Doctor J. had 23 points.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J1szexjELg&hl=en&fs=1&]

1987 Eastern Conference Finals – “Bird Steals the Ball” vs. The Detroit Pistons

The pivotal game five of the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals featuring the upstart “Bad Boy” Pistons and the fabled Boston Celtics.

I remember watching this game on the floor in my grandmothers living room with my older brother. Boston was up by one point with 27 seconds left.

Detroit ball.

Isiah Thomas drills a 17 footer over Jerry Sichting giving Detroit a one point lead with 17 seconds left. The Pistons celebration had begun.

To me, Everything was okay. Legendary assassin, Larry Bird was on the floor and we had 17 seconds to score – an eternity.

Larry takes the ball inbounds, drives hard to the basket drawing a lot of contact but this was 1987’s NBA, not 2009’s. The refs called no foul, Larry missed and the Celtics went down 2-3 in the best of seven series. Or so everyone watching assumed.

With 5 seconds remaining and the Pistons in possession of the basketball, I remember the feeling of total desperation. Even the Celtics bench looked resigned to defeat.

The sequence of events that followed were nothing short of legendary…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fySp51bhsQ&hl=en&fs=1&]

1987 NBA Finals – Magic’s “Baby Hook” vs. The Boston Celtics

The 1987 NBA Finals was the last epic meeting of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.

The badly injured Celtics were down 0-2, losing both games in Los Angeles to the rested and more talented Los Angeles Lakers.

After winning game 3 in Boston, The Celtics looked to even up the series in the waning moments of game four.

Larry Bird had just hit a difficult three point shot to put Boston up by one with 7 seconds left. I recall celebrating, the Celtics had tied the series.

Five seconds left, Magic drives the lane and hits a baby hook over the original Big Three. I, as a young basketball fan, had never seen the basketball immortals look so dejected. You can still see (in the commercial) Larry Bird’s shoulders sink to the parquet floor as he disappears.

As a Celtics fan, I would watch the re-play of that shot and pray it bounces off the rim and Boston won. Of course that didn’t happen but watching the “NBA Where Amazing Happens” version of this highlight Two things struck me:

#1 How WIDE open Kareem was as Magic drove the lane. Imagine if Magic had passed the ball and Kareem had dunked it. That is probably what would have happened years earlier as Magic had often deferred to Abdul-Jabbar.

#2 If Magic had missed the baby hook Kareem would have snagged the rebound and dunked it.

Either way Boston loses.

This has always been one of the more difficult highlights to watch. It ultimately marked the end of Boston’s NBA dominance. Time heals all wounds even those incurred by your worst basketball enemy.

Today, watching this version of the “NBA Amazing” Commercials chokes me up. It takes me right back to 1987. A Los Angeles Lakers highlight may actually be my favorite.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onEnvKrxHVc&hl=en&fs=1&]

2000 Western Conference Finals – Kobe’s “alley-oop to Shaq” vs. the Portland Trailblazers

This play clinched game seven in dramatic style sending the Lakers back to the Finals for the first time since 1991.

The youthful (and skinny) Kobe Bryant had a hand in the final six points of the game.

He scored on a pair of free throws, a jumper and this phenomenal alley-oop assist to Shaq – it’s fitting that Shaq shared credit with Kobe (and teammates) on Twitter last night.

This marked the beginning of the tumultuous “Shaq-Kobe Championship Era” in Los Angeles.

It has been said in several blogs that this commercial shows that as early as 2000, their were signs of the rift between Shaq and Kobe. You can see Shaq pointing to the crowd and ignoring Kobe’s outstretch hand looking for a high five.

After further investigation,
I decided not to speculate or examine any further for this article, any findings diminished the splendor of this commercial.

The 2009 playoffs have been a long “Where Amazing Happens” commercial, loaded with spectacular footage for next years post season.

Can’t wait.