Last night the Spurs returned to the Alamodome against the Warriors for the first time since 2002 in front of a crowd of 68,000! Came to this video to see the Dome in its prime during the Spurs first championship!
@@robertbui9030 They came within one shot of sending it to 6 without them. Such a shame they weren't at least at full strength (not saying they would've won but you never know)
If Ewing didn't get hurt against the Pacers it would have gone 7 in the Finals and probably they still would lose ... Van Gundy would have had Ewing at C and Campy at PF to start and LJ and Thomas coming off the bench ... But with Ewing hurt he had to start Dudley at C and later in the series Campy and LJ at PF which made them extremely undersized against two 7 footers in Duncan & Robinson.
1:05 "Uncertainty defined the New York Knicks regular season. But turmoil and lackluster results have given way to spectacular playoff achievement and team harmony. When this unconventional collection of stars lost their leader, they never lost heart. Instead it inspired them to last second heroics and peak performances that have the skeptics asking and fans begging: can the eighth seed do it again?" I couldn't keep my eyes dry when that pregame opener first aired, let alone now. Thank you Bob.
As a Knicks fan, I remember turning on game 1 early to watch this pregame opener because they always did these so well and the Knicks were such a great story. 1:06 to 1:41 almost had me in tears.
This always struck me as the forgotten NBA Finals during NBC's 12 year run with the NBA. It came during the same season that there was a lockout that shortened the season to 50 games. It was also the only Finals on NBC to not include either Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, the Los Angeles Lakers (during either the tail end of the Showtime era with Magic Johnson or the Shaq-Kobe Bryant era), or the Houston Rockets, during the interim of Michael Jordan's first retirement. In fairness, the New York Knicks were in the 1994 Finals against the Rockets, so it isn't like we were getting two brand new teams in 1999. And the '95 Finals with the Rockets and Orlando Magic still had Shaq involved, so there's still some continuity.
I was 11 years old, and I became a Knicks fan that year when we got Spree He was my favorite player hands down. Even if Patrick & Larry were healthy, I still think they would have lost... But man I miss those Knicks teams. It was ugly at times, but they had heart. 💯
With Ewing hurt it left them undersized against two 7 footers in Robinson & Duncan ... Spree did his best, but Houston choking, LJ battling a hamstring injury and Campy constantly in Foul trouble officially ended the miracle run ☹️
They won't do it because the so called sports talk professionals act like it was a fluke for the Knicks and Spurs to make it to the Finals because it was strike shortened season 🤦
Though technically the Knicks should have done that, since the Spurs were a Western Conference team, who the Bulls obviously could have faced, and didn't exactly "replace" in the finals too.
At first, I thought "Bulls intro rip-off!", until I heard, "You were expecting someone else?" Ouch. What a stab. Yeah, the Bulls weren't in charge anymore.
Yet it was odd the Spurs did that, considering they were a Western Conference team and all. The Knicks pulling that stunt would have been much more appropriate if you ask me!
I got some Lego minifigures of these Spurs on my birthday. My dad turned on the tv and played this (starting at 7:12) as I started opening the present.
The 1999 NBA Playoffs was a wild ride NY Knicks becoming the first 8th seed to reach the Finals and San Antonio finally beating their playoff demons and won the title and the Sacramento Kings becoming into elite contender despite losing in 5 games to Utah.
Bill Walton was the only one who was being realistic it seemed, considering there was just no way in Hell the Knicks were winning this series. Having both Ewing and a totally healthy L.J. could have maybe pushed that year's finals to the brink. That being even if the Spurs still likely would have pulled it out, had if the Knicks been fully intact I.M.O though.
Yea in retrospect, Knicks had a huge amount of individual talent, but were a spent force. They were high in spirits, but Injuries, fatigue, relatively poor to average teamwork and relying too much on individual plays at this level was really a too far fetched hail mary for them to come out on top once again.
@@glutamin111 And even I as a Knicks fan, knew they had virtually no chance going into the series. Unlike in 94 when they had a legitimate shot at winning it all which they just missed out on, the Knicks and their fans were just happy they even managed to get this far in 99. That considering the fact they just barely made the playoffs after struggling during the regular season, and went on that amazing run as a bottom seed (albeit a very talented one) from that point on. That is until the Spurs became the brick wall which put an end to it when the Knicks meekly bowed out to them in the finals that year.
@@glutamin111 It was also crazy with how the Spurs two playoff losses that year ironically both came at the hands of 8th seeds for that matter too! L.O.L.!
I agree that the Bulls would've struggled with the Spurs due to the size. The Bulls never faced a team that had that type of lock down defense. I give my spurs a great chance to win, but never count out the bulls with Scottie and MJ. Too bad never got a chance to see it. Would've been a classic
Charles Melton the NFL is the #1 sport by a hundred miles and has been since the mid/late 2000s, basically since 2007 it has jumped lightyears above the charts we measure the other sports by. Before that, the NFL, Baseball, and the NBA had all jockeyed for popularity since the 1960s
wa2k99 tbh I didnt think LJ played that different this series than before he got hurt in game 6 vs Indiana. He played competent defense on Duncan considering the size disadvantage. It's just his 3 stopped falling. He fell in love with it because it was going in in the previous rounds of the playoffs.
Patrick wouldn't have saved them. Duncan and Robinson together was too much and Ewing was getting old. Might have gone 6 instead of 5. I think the only instance of the league helping the Knicks was LJ's 4 point play continuation foul call. Will always be one of my fav moments but I'll admit, was a bit shaky.
Speaking as a Bulls fan if Jordan didn't retire and the team stayed together they would have been beaten by San Antonio because even though Dennis Rodman shut down Malone but he would have had problems with Robinson and Duncan and the bench for CHI would never have had helped at all and would have had MJ and Scottie Pippen carry the load to beat San Antonio.
Speaking as a Knicks fan, Chicago would not have beaten us in 1999, nor would they have beaten us in 1997 when we got screwed against Miami. Pippen and Jordan were nearing the end of their careers, while Houston, Camby and Sprewell were in their primes. Ewing, and LJ were still effective, and our bench was stellar. The Spurs were the only team, in my opinion that could've beaten us in 1999, and they did.
Wow brings back such memories. Now Hannah Storm is with ESPN, Doug Collins is coaching the Sixers, and Isiah Thomas ruined the Knicks franchise for multiple yearss
Mayne, San Antonio went NUTS when we won the championship in 1999, shoot, I remember as a kid, whenever Sprewell would take foul shots on tv, My dad and I would yell SPREEEEE!!, and most of the time, he'd miss
i think that the spurs still win this series. Ewing i think wouldve pushed this to a game 6. Duncan just could not be stopped along with Dave on the inside, it was a nightmare for opponents.
This series was the reason why I became a Spurs fan...started as a bandwagon been a loyal fan since...damn if Jordan was around it could have been Twin towers vs Jordan..that series would have gone 7 games
Had The Knicks been healthy they would've gave The Spurs a better battle, btu I think they would've fallen short. This was a very talented Spurs team, and even with a healthy Ewing it would've been tough. Ewing was not the same player he was in 1994. But of course, David Robinson was no Hakeem Olajuwon.
Did Bob Costas at the 1:23 mark inadvertently allude to the "Ewing Theory", which in the most simple of terms, refers to when a team miraculously improves despite the loss of their star player?
15 years ago this June...I barely remember this series as the Knicks would fall to the Spurs, who would win their first ever NBA Finals title before winning a few more with new players such as Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli. Since then the Knicks have failed to go to the championship. The New Jersey Nets would reach the finals in back to back years in 2002 and 2003 (only championship was in 1976 ABA season as the New York Nets), losing both to the Lakers and Spurs. When the team moved to brooklyn, they turned around big and have reached the playoffs since last season. Hopefully the Nets win an nba finals as an NBA team.
Just curious, would you be willing to post the Phil Jackson bit by chance, to complete the intro section? You don't have to if you don't want, but just wondered.
@inquisitive871 IMHO, a healthy Ewing would have helped the Knicks, but the Spurs were just on a roll this year. All things equal, I would have said Spurs in 6 or 7. But it would have been a great series if Ewing played.
@Jaxis1337 Im not. The Bulls always struggled with dominant big men. During the regular season, the Spurs had tons of success, winning frequently for many seasons. Im not saying the Spurs wouldve beaten the bulls. The playoffs is a whole different environment, but such a big team like the spurs wouldve really made it hard for MJ to attack the basket (even though he became a jump shooter), along with everyone else. Just stating a very possible scenario.
except no. the spurs would have still won in 6 or 7...ewing was pretty much done, and got traded the year after. robinson and duncan would have dominated him. an aging patrick wouldn't have stopped the twin towers. and johnson still was playing in the finals anyways. the knicks just ran into a much better team.
Scottie Pippen left and went to Houston Dennis Rodman was traded to the lakers steve kerr came here to SA and Luc lonely left. Michael Jordan couldn't have done all that shit to himself the spurs would've shut down MJ and who knows if they could've got back in the finals with a small team like that
Twas the time the Postseason ratings went down. MJ is blame for all this mess. Instead of the Knicks in the finals, it should've been MJ and his Bulls against the Spurs. The Bulls probably would've pushed the series to 6 or 7 games.
@MichaelElam23 98-99 Jordan & Pippen would have been pretty old, I don't see why Spurs couldn't beat them. Besides, as mentioned already, Jordan's Bulls always struggled against dominating big men. For example Jordan's Bulls had an all-time losing record against Olajuwon's Rockets.
(0:34)- When Bob Costas mentioned the stars that missed their chances for the ring. Karl Malone and Charles Barkley ran out of chances to capture the title while Shaq and Alonzo Morning would get the rings (Shaq would get three straight the next three years and one with Miami siding with Dwayne Wade and Morning in 2006.)
@HRpaperstacks06 difference is that im a nba fan first team fan 2nd. Unlike most i can objective without letting emotion cloud my judgment. Most so called fans cant do that, and yes the Rockets wouldve given problems for the Bulls as well. Like i said, dominant big men the bulls always struggled with.
