1994 NBA Finals
Encyclopedia
The 1994 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1993–94 National Basketball Association season, featuring the Western Conference
's Houston Rockets
defeating the Eastern Conference
's New York Knicks
.
This matchup was Hakeem Olajuwon
's second NBA Finals
series appearance, his other being in 1986
, where Larry Bird
and the Boston Celtics
defeated the Houston Rockets four games to two. The series was Patrick Ewing
's first NBA Finals
appearance. The Rockets came in with strong determination to win not only the franchise's first NBA championship, but the city's first championship in a league that still existed, all while the Knicks were looking to add a third NBA championship trophy, as the Knicks' last trophy came from the 1973 NBA Finals
. The Knicks also hoped to impress their new owners Viacom
, who had just bought Paramount Communications (formerly Gulf+Western
), their longtime owners (after the series however, Viacom sold the Knicks and the rest of the Madison Square Garden
properties).
The series was hailed as a meeting of the two great centers who had previously played for a championship in college. In 1984 while Olajuwon was with the University of Houston
and Ewing was with Georgetown University
, Georgetown had beaten Houston 84-75 in the 1984 NCAA Championship game
. In this series, however, Olajuwon is generally considered to have definitively outplayed Ewing, outscoring him in every game of the series and posting numbers of 26.9 ppg
on 50.0% shooting compared to Ewing's 18.9 ppg on 36.3% shooting. However, Ewing set an NBA finals record in the series with a total of 30 blocks, and he tied the single-game record of 8 blocks in Game 5. Dwight Howard
would surpass this record with 9 blocked shots in Game 4 of the 2009 Finals
while with the Orlando Magic
, with whom Ewing is now assistant coach. Also worth noting, Ewing outrebounded Hakeem 87 to 64 in the series.
During the series, the Houston Rockets played seven low-scoring, defensive games against the New York Knicks. After splitting the first two games in Houston, the Knicks won two out of three games at Madison Square Garden
, where it was also hosted the Rangers
first Stanley Cup celebration in 54 years
during the series.
In Game 6, however, Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon blocked a last-second attempt at a game-winner by John Starks
, giving the Rockets an 86-84 victory and forcing a Game 7, which made Knicks Coach Pat Riley the first (and to this date, the only) coach in a Game 7 NBA Finals on two different teams, having been with the Los Angeles Lakers
in and . In addition, the Knicks set a record for most playoff games played in one season, with 25. The Detroit Pistons
tied this record in . The Boston Celtics
, with whom Doc Rivers
is now the head coach, would surpass it during their championship season of 2008
when they played 26.
The Rockets beat the Knicks in Game 7, 90-84, enabling the city of Houston
to not only celebrate its first NBA and fifth professional sports championship (first in an existing league), but also deny New York from having both NBA and NHL championship
s in the same year. It is also the first time a Houston team won a championship in a league that still exists. For his efforts Olajuwon was named NBA Finals Most Valuable Player. For the Knicks, Riley had the unfortunate distinction of having become the first (and to this date, the only) coach to lose a Game 7 NBA Finals on two different teams, having lost to the Celtics in 1984. It also denied him the distinciton of being the first coach to win a Game 7 NBA Finals with two different teams, having defeated the Detroit Pistons
in 1988.
NBC Sports
used Ahmad Rashād
(Knicks sideline) and Hannah Storm
(Rockets sideline).
Hal Douglas narrated the season-ending documentary Clutch City for NBA Entertainment
.
, 3–2 over Vancouver Canucks
.
Rangers Captain Mark Messier
attended the game, bringing the Stanley Cup in a bid to inspire the Knicks, first to their locker room before the game, and again out onto center court at halftime, Much to the delight of the fans.
The Knicks went on to win Game 4, and John Starks, Patrick Ewing, and Pat Riley all said that the Rangers' win was a motivating factor and that everyone on the team watched the game. Several Knicks, including Forward Anthony Mason
were at the game. During NBC's broadcast of Game 4, Marv Albert, who himself handled the radio call of the Rangers' win, and Matt Guokas mentioned the Rangers' win and that the Knicks were happy that it happened at home and the same arena they play in, saying that the Garden was "the scene of one of the glorious moments in the history of New York sports."
NBA
Commissioner David Stern
congratulated the Rangers on their win. Then-Chicago Bulls
Coach Phil Jackson
(himself a former Knick) said that the Knicks championship run and the Rangers' win would become great parts of a great chapter in New York City sports history because Rangers Coach Mike Keenan
had been part of a concurrent finals series in hockey and basketball taking place in the same city, having seen it Chicago two years before when coach of the Blackhawks
. However, Riley experienced this for the first time, as the Los Angeles Kings
did not reach their finals during any of the 7 years he coached the Lakers to the finals. (The Kings' only Finals' appearance was in .)
Carroll Dawson
, an assistant coach of the Rockets, said on the 10th anniversary of the Rockets win that though the Rangers win "had been overlooked through the years," it was a motivational assist for the Rockets, as Houston went from "Choke City" to "Clutch City
." He recounted: "Our players got to see firsthand how a city could just go crazy. They watched the parade (unless they were for the Canucks, as they would have wanted to see a rally in Grouse Mountain
, just outside of Vancouver). It was like an assist from New York. I think it helped our guys want it more." He knew that a lot had happened in 54 years, but New York hockey fans had gotten nothing, nothing better than this. The people in Houston reflected it as well, as they did not have a championship in a league that still exists.
Game 5 took place on the same day of the ticker-tape parade in the Canyon of Heroes in Lower Manhattan honoring the new Stanley Cup champions. Players and representatives of both the Knicks and the Rockets were among 1.5 million who attended it.
The Knicks losing Game 7 meant Keenan saw New York get the same verdict he saw in Chicago two years before. Nevertheless, both teams got their motivational assist from the way things to the Rangers' win ended: "The New York Rangers have done it here on a hot June night in New York! The Rangers are Stanley Cup Champions!"
affiliates split the coverage of the game between NFL Hall of Famer
O.J. Simpson's slow speed freeway chase
with the LAPD
. At the time, Simpson had been an NFL
analyst on NBC
.
The coverage was presented on a split screen, with the game taking up the smaller portion of the television screen on the left, while live coverage of the chase was shown in a bigger screen on the right. The audio came from the chase as narrated by NBC News
anchor Tom Brokaw
.
KNBC
in Los Angeles
, serving the media market
where the police were tracking Simpson, left game coverage completely for the chase and did not even put up a split screen until the end of the game, which was still close at the time. By this point, Simpson had returned to his mansion in Brentwood
and had surrendered to police.
A complete re-broadcast of Game 5, with natural crowd audio substituting for the parts for which NBC did not provide audio, is part of the DVD
release of this series from Warner Home Video
.
, but their season overall was a rocky one. Plagued by the lack of chemistry the Rockets only managed to finish 6th in the West and won only 47 games, despite the mid-season addition of Clyde Drexler
. Yet the Rockets' ability to overcome adversity was exemplified in the postseason that followed, beating 50-win squads Utah
, Phoenix
, San Antonio
and Orlando
to win the NBA championship, the lowest seed to win it all.
Also in 1995, the Knicks enjoyed another strong season, with 55 wins. However, they were eliminated by the Indiana Pacers
in seven games of the second round, as Pacers guard Reggie Miller
's 'Knick Killer' legacy continued, scoring eight points in 32 seconds late in Game 1's victory. After the season Pat Riley
bolted for the Miami Heat
. The Knicks would make the finals again in 1999
, but fell to the Spurs in five games.
The championship represents Houston's first since the Houston Oilers
won the AFL
title in 1961.
Western Conference (NBA)
Below is a list of current Western Conference NBA team rosters.-Western Conference:There are a total of 15 teams in the Western Conference. The current leading team of the Western conference are the Dallas Mavericks....
's Houston Rockets
Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being...
defeating the Eastern Conference
Eastern Conference (NBA)
The Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association is made up of fifteen teams, organized in three divisions of five teams each.The three division winners and the non-division winner with the best record are seeded 1 through 4 for the playoffs in order of their records, with all...
's New York Knicks
New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, prominently known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...
.
This matchup was Hakeem Olajuwon
Hakeem Olajuwon
Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon is a retired Nigerian-American professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played the center position in the National Basketball Association for the Houston Rockets and Toronto Raptors. He led the Rockets to back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995. In 2008,...
's second NBA Finals
NBA Finals
The NBA Finals is the championship series of the National Basketball Association . The series was named the NBA World Championship Series until 1986....
series appearance, his other being in 1986
1986 NBA Finals
The 1986 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1985-86 NBA season. It pitted the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics against the Western Conference champion Houston Rockets. The Celtics defeated the Rockets four games to two to win their 16th NBA championship. The championship would...
, where Larry Bird
Larry Bird
Larry Joe Bird is a former American NBA basketball player and coach. Drafted into the NBA sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1978, Bird started at small forward and power forward for thirteen seasons, spearheading one of the NBA's most formidable frontcourts that included center Robert Parish...
and the Boston Celtics
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
defeated the Houston Rockets four games to two. The series was Patrick Ewing
Patrick Ewing
Patrick Aloysius Ewing Sr. is a Jamaican-American retired Hall of Fame basketball player and current assistant coach for the National Basketball Association's Orlando Magic. He played most of his career with the NBA's New York Knicks as their starting center and played briefly with the Seattle...
's first NBA Finals
NBA Finals
The NBA Finals is the championship series of the National Basketball Association . The series was named the NBA World Championship Series until 1986....
appearance. The Rockets came in with strong determination to win not only the franchise's first NBA championship, but the city's first championship in a league that still existed, all while the Knicks were looking to add a third NBA championship trophy, as the Knicks' last trophy came from the 1973 NBA Finals
1973 NBA Finals
For the third time in four seasons, the New York Knicks of the Eastern Conference met the Los Angeles Lakers of the Western Conference for the NBA World Championship in the 1973 NBA Finals...
. The Knicks also hoped to impress their new owners Viacom
Viacom (1971–2005)
Viacom , stylized as VIACOM in its current logo, was an American media conglomerate. It was the owner of CBS, Nickelodeon & MTV, among others. Effective December 31, 2005, this corporate entity changed its name to CBS Corporation...
, who had just bought Paramount Communications (formerly Gulf+Western
Gulf+Western
Gulf and Western Industries, Inc., for a number of years known as Gulf+Western, was an American conglomerate.- History :Gulf and Western's prosaic origins date to a manufacturer named Michigan Bumper Co. founded in 1934, though Charles Bluhdorn treated his 1958 takeover of what was then Michigan...
), their longtime owners (after the series however, Viacom sold the Knicks and the rest of the Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
properties).
The series was hailed as a meeting of the two great centers who had previously played for a championship in college. In 1984 while Olajuwon was with the University of Houston
University of Houston
The University of Houston is a state research university, and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, it is Texas's third-largest university with nearly 40,000 students. Its campus spans 667 acres in southeast Houston, and was known as University of...
and Ewing was with Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
, Georgetown had beaten Houston 84-75 in the 1984 NCAA Championship game
1984 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1984 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 53 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1984, and ended with the championship game on April 2 in Seattle, Washington. A total of...
. In this series, however, Olajuwon is generally considered to have definitively outplayed Ewing, outscoring him in every game of the series and posting numbers of 26.9 ppg
Points per game
Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of points by number of games. The terminology is often used in...
on 50.0% shooting compared to Ewing's 18.9 ppg on 36.3% shooting. However, Ewing set an NBA finals record in the series with a total of 30 blocks, and he tied the single-game record of 8 blocks in Game 5. Dwight Howard
Dwight Howard
Dwight David Howard is an American basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association . Howard, who usually plays center but can also play power forward, had an outstanding high school career at Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy...
would surpass this record with 9 blocked shots in Game 4 of the 2009 Finals
2009 NBA Finals
The 2009 NBA Finals was the National Basketball Association championship series for the 2008-09 season. The best-of-seven playoff was contested between the Los Angeles Lakers, champions of the Western Conference and defending Western Conference champions, and the Orlando Magic, champions of the...
while with the Orlando Magic
Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic is a professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association and are currently coached by Stan Van Gundy...
, with whom Ewing is now assistant coach. Also worth noting, Ewing outrebounded Hakeem 87 to 64 in the series.
During the series, the Houston Rockets played seven low-scoring, defensive games against the New York Knicks. After splitting the first two games in Houston, the Knicks won two out of three games at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
, where it was also hosted the Rangers
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...
first Stanley Cup celebration in 54 years
Curse of 1940
The Curse of 1940, also called Dutton's Curse, was a superstitious explanation for why the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League did not win the league's championship trophy, the Stanley Cup, from 1940 to 1994.-Popular theories:...
during the series.
In Game 6, however, Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon blocked a last-second attempt at a game-winner by John Starks
John Starks (basketball)
John Levell Starks is a former American professional basketball shooting guard. Starks was listed at 6'5" and 190 pounds during his NBA playing career...
, giving the Rockets an 86-84 victory and forcing a Game 7, which made Knicks Coach Pat Riley the first (and to this date, the only) coach in a Game 7 NBA Finals on two different teams, having been with the Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
in and . In addition, the Knicks set a record for most playoff games played in one season, with 25. The Detroit Pistons
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...
tied this record in . The Boston Celtics
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
, with whom Doc Rivers
Doc Rivers
Glenn Anton "Doc" Rivers is a former professional basketball player and the current head coach of the NBA's Boston Celtics. Rivers was known for his defense while playing in the NBA...
is now the head coach, would surpass it during their championship season of 2008
2008 NBA Finals
The 2008 NBA Finals was the championship series of the 2007–08 NBA season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Boston Celtics, top-seeded champions of the Eastern Conference, defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, top-seeded champions of the Western Conference, four games to two in a...
when they played 26.
The Rockets beat the Knicks in Game 7, 90-84, enabling the city of Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
to not only celebrate its first NBA and fifth professional sports championship (first in an existing league), but also deny New York from having both NBA and NHL championship
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
s in the same year. It is also the first time a Houston team won a championship in a league that still exists. For his efforts Olajuwon was named NBA Finals Most Valuable Player. For the Knicks, Riley had the unfortunate distinction of having become the first (and to this date, the only) coach to lose a Game 7 NBA Finals on two different teams, having lost to the Celtics in 1984. It also denied him the distinciton of being the first coach to win a Game 7 NBA Finals with two different teams, having defeated the Detroit Pistons
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...
in 1988.
NBC Sports
NBC Sports
NBC Sports is the sports division of the NBC television network. Formerly "a service of NBC News," it broadcasts a diverse array of programs, including the Olympic Games, the NFL, the NHL, MLS, Notre Dame football, the PGA Tour, the Triple Crown, and the French Open, among others...
used Ahmad Rashād
Ahmad Rashad
Ahmad Rashād is an American sportscaster and former professional football player. An All-American running back and wide receiver from Oregon known as Bobby Moore, Rashad was the fourth overall pick in the 1972 NFL Draft, drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals...
(Knicks sideline) and Hannah Storm
Hannah Storm
Hannah Storm is an American television sports journalist, serving as co-anchor of ESPN's SportsCenter Monday–Thursday mornings, and is also host of the NBA Countdown pregame show on ABC as part of the network's NBA Sunday game coverage.-Early life and career:Storm was born in Oak Park, Illinois,...
(Rockets sideline).
Hal Douglas narrated the season-ending documentary Clutch City for NBA Entertainment
NBA Entertainment
NBA Entertainment is the production arm of the National Basketball Association and produces numerous NBA-related films including team championship videos and blooper and entertainment reels. It was previously associated with CBS/Fox Video, but now distributes its films through Warner Bros....
.
1994 Houston Rockets
Game 3
Game 4
Game 5
Game 6
Game 7
Olajuwon vs. Ewing
Although most fans in New York, and some members of the national media, blamed John Starks' poor performance, who shot 2-for-18 from the field in game 7, as a contributing factor in the Knicks' loss in the series, another important factor in the Rockets series win was Olajuwon's performance. Olajuwon outscored Ewing in all seven games of the series while Ewing outrebounded him (12.4 rpg to 9.1 rpg) and set a then NBA Finals record with a total of 30 blocks :| 1994 NBA Finals | Gm 1 | Gm 2 | Gm 3 | Gm 4 | Gm 5 | Gm 6 | Gm 7 | Totals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hakeem Olajuwon | 28 | 25 | 21 | 32 | 27 | 30 | 25 | 26.9 ppg Points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of points by number of games. The terminology is often used in... 50.0% fg Field goal percentage Field goal percentage in basketball is the ratio of field goals made to field goals attempted. Its abbreviation is FG%. Three-point field goals are included in this percentage. Instead of using scales of 0 to 100%, the scale .000 to 1.000 is commonly used. A higher field goal percentage denotes... 9.1 rpg 3.6 apg 3.9 bpg Block (basketball) In basketball, a block , not to be confused with blocking, occurs when a defensive player legally deflects a field goal attempt from an offensive player. The defender must not touch the offensive player's hands or otherwise a foul is called. In order to be legal, the block must occur while the shot... |
| Patrick Ewing | 23 | 16 | 18 | 15 | 25 | 19 | 17 | 18.9 ppg 36.4% fg 12.4 rpg 1.7 apg 4.3 bpg |
New York Rangers Win Stanley Cup
Game 4 took place at Madison Square Garden with its corridors smelling of beer and champagne. Less than 24 hours before, the New York Rangers won Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals1994 Stanley Cup Finals
The 1994 Stanley Cup Final was a best-of-seven playoff series contested between the Eastern Conference champion New York Rangers and Western Conference champion Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League...
, 3–2 over Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver, :British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Canucks play their home games at Rogers Arena, formerly known as General Motors Place,...
.
Rangers Captain Mark Messier
Mark Messier
Mark Douglas Messier is a former Canadian professional ice hockey centre of the National Hockey League and current special assistant to the president and general manager of the New York Rangers. He spent a quarter of a century in the NHL with the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, and Vancouver...
attended the game, bringing the Stanley Cup in a bid to inspire the Knicks, first to their locker room before the game, and again out onto center court at halftime, Much to the delight of the fans.
The Knicks went on to win Game 4, and John Starks, Patrick Ewing, and Pat Riley all said that the Rangers' win was a motivating factor and that everyone on the team watched the game. Several Knicks, including Forward Anthony Mason
Anthony Mason (basketball)
Anthony George Douglas Mason is a retired American National Basketball Association player with the New Jersey Nets, Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks, Charlotte Hornets, Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat. He averaged 10.8 points and 8.3 rebounds in his 13-year NBA career...
were at the game. During NBC's broadcast of Game 4, Marv Albert, who himself handled the radio call of the Rangers' win, and Matt Guokas mentioned the Rangers' win and that the Knicks were happy that it happened at home and the same arena they play in, saying that the Garden was "the scene of one of the glorious moments in the history of New York sports."
NBA
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
Commissioner David Stern
David Stern
David Joel Stern is the commissioner of the National Basketball Association. He started with the Association in 1966 as an outside counsel, joined the NBA in 1978 as General Counsel, and became the league's Executive Vice President in 1980. He became Commissioner in 1984 succeeding Larry O'Brien...
congratulated the Rangers on their win. Then-Chicago Bulls
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...
Coach Phil Jackson
Phil Jackson
Philip Douglas "Phil" Jackson is a retired American professional basketball coach and player. Jackson is widely considered one of the greatest coaches in the history of the National Basketball Association . His reputation was established as head coach of the Chicago Bulls from 1989 through 1998;...
(himself a former Knick) said that the Knicks championship run and the Rangers' win would become great parts of a great chapter in New York City sports history because Rangers Coach Mike Keenan
Mike Keenan
Michael Edward Keenan is a former head coach in the National Hockey League , most recently with the Calgary Flames, and former General Manager of the Florida Panthers. He is currently working as an analyst for the New York Rangers on MSG Network.Keenan was a player for the St...
had been part of a concurrent finals series in hockey and basketball taking place in the same city, having seen it Chicago two years before when coach of the Blackhawks
Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10...
. However, Riley experienced this for the first time, as the Los Angeles Kings
Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles, California. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
did not reach their finals during any of the 7 years he coached the Lakers to the finals. (The Kings' only Finals' appearance was in .)
Carroll Dawson
Carroll Dawson
Carroll Dawson is a retired American assistant coach and general manager in the National Basketball Association. He worked for the Houston Rockets franchise for twenty-seven years until announcing his retirement in 2007....
, an assistant coach of the Rockets, said on the 10th anniversary of the Rockets win that though the Rangers win "had been overlooked through the years," it was a motivational assist for the Rockets, as Houston went from "Choke City" to "Clutch City
Clutch City
Clutch City is a nickname given to the city of Houston, Texas after the Houston Rockets won two NBA Championships in 1994 and 1995. The name was given as a response to a front-page headline by The Houston Chronicle declaring Houston as "Choke City," It also refers to the clutch performance showed...
." He recounted: "Our players got to see firsthand how a city could just go crazy. They watched the parade (unless they were for the Canucks, as they would have wanted to see a rally in Grouse Mountain
Grouse Mountain
Grouse Mountain is one of the North Shore Mountains of the Pacific Ranges in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Exceeding 1,200 m in altitude at its peak, is the site of an alpine ski area in the winter season overlooking Greater Vancouver with four chairlifts facilitating 26 runs...
, just outside of Vancouver). It was like an assist from New York. I think it helped our guys want it more." He knew that a lot had happened in 54 years, but New York hockey fans had gotten nothing, nothing better than this. The people in Houston reflected it as well, as they did not have a championship in a league that still exists.
Game 5 took place on the same day of the ticker-tape parade in the Canyon of Heroes in Lower Manhattan honoring the new Stanley Cup champions. Players and representatives of both the Knicks and the Rockets were among 1.5 million who attended it.
The Knicks losing Game 7 meant Keenan saw New York get the same verdict he saw in Chicago two years before. Nevertheless, both teams got their motivational assist from the way things to the Rangers' win ended: "The New York Rangers have done it here on a hot June night in New York! The Rangers are Stanley Cup Champions!"
Telecast interrupted by O.J. Simpson car chase
During Game 5, most NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliates split the coverage of the game between NFL Hall of Famer
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
O.J. Simpson's slow speed freeway chase
O. J. Simpson murder case
The O. J. Simpson murder case was a criminal trial held in Los Angeles County, California Superior Court from January 29 to October 3, 1995. Former American football star and actor O. J...
with the LAPD
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
. At the time, Simpson had been an NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
analyst on NBC
NFL on NBC
NFL on NBC is the brand given to NBC Sports coverage of National Football League games until 1998, when NBC lost the NFL American Football Conference rights to CBS...
.
The coverage was presented on a split screen, with the game taking up the smaller portion of the television screen on the left, while live coverage of the chase was shown in a bigger screen on the right. The audio came from the chase as narrated by NBC News
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
anchor Tom Brokaw
Tom Brokaw
Thomas John "Tom" Brokaw is an American television journalist and author best known as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News from 1982 to 2004. He is the author of The Greatest Generation and other books and the recipient of numerous awards and honors...
.
KNBC
KNBC
KNBC, channel 4, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, licensed to Los Angeles, California, USA. KNBC's studios and offices are located within the NBC Studios complex in Burbank, California, and its transmitter is located on Mount Wilson...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, serving the media market
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
where the police were tracking Simpson, left game coverage completely for the chase and did not even put up a split screen until the end of the game, which was still close at the time. By this point, Simpson had returned to his mansion in Brentwood
Brentwood, Los Angeles, California
Brentwood is a district in western Los Angeles, California, United States. The district is located at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains, bounded by the San Diego Freeway on the east, Wilshire Boulevard on the south, the Santa Monica city limits on the southwest, the border of Topanga State...
and had surrendered to police.
A complete re-broadcast of Game 5, with natural crowd audio substituting for the parts for which NBC did not provide audio, is part of the DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
release of this series from Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of Time Warner. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video . The company launched in the United States with twenty films on VHS and Betamax videocassettes in late 1979...
.
Aftermath
The Rockets would repeat as NBA champions in 19951995 NBA Finals
The 1995 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1994–95 NBA season. The series pitted the Orlando Magic against the Houston Rockets. The pre-series hype and build-up of the Finals was centered around the meeting of the two centers Shaquille O'Neal of the Magic and Hakeem Olajuwon of the Rockets...
, but their season overall was a rocky one. Plagued by the lack of chemistry the Rockets only managed to finish 6th in the West and won only 47 games, despite the mid-season addition of Clyde Drexler
Clyde Drexler
Clyde Austin "Clyde The Glide" Drexler is a former National Basketball Association shooting guard and small forward. A ten-time All-Star and member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, the NBA named him one of basketball's fifty greatest players as of 1996. Drexler won an Olympic gold medal in 1992 and...
. Yet the Rockets' ability to overcome adversity was exemplified in the postseason that followed, beating 50-win squads Utah
Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz is a professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. They are currently a part of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
, Phoenix
Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns are a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association and the only team in their division not to be based in California. Their home arena since 1992 has been the US...
, San Antonio
San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They are part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ....
and Orlando
Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic is a professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association and are currently coached by Stan Van Gundy...
to win the NBA championship, the lowest seed to win it all.
Also in 1995, the Knicks enjoyed another strong season, with 55 wins. However, they were eliminated by the Indiana Pacers
Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers are a professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are members of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association...
in seven games of the second round, as Pacers guard Reggie Miller
Reggie Miller
Reginald Wayne "Reggie" Miller is a retired American professional basketball player who played his entire 18-year National Basketball Association career with the Indiana Pacers...
's 'Knick Killer' legacy continued, scoring eight points in 32 seconds late in Game 1's victory. After the season Pat Riley
Pat Riley
Patrick James "Pat" Riley is an American professional basketball executive, and a retired coach and player in the NBA. Currently, he is team president of the Miami Heat. Widely regarded as one of the greatest NBA coaches of all time, Riley has served as the head coach of five championship teams...
bolted for the Miami Heat
Miami Heat
The Miami Heat is a professional basketball team based in Miami, Florida, United States. The team is a member of the Southeast Division in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . They play their home games at American Airlines Arena in Downtown Miami...
. The Knicks would make the finals again in 1999
1999 NBA Finals
The 1999 NBA Finals was the championship round of the shortened 1998–99 NBA season or the 1999 season. The San Antonio Spurs of the Western Conference took on the New York Knicks of the Eastern Conference for the title, with the Spurs holding home court advantage...
, but fell to the Spurs in five games.
The championship represents Houston's first since the Houston Oilers
Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter...
won the AFL
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
title in 1961.
See also
- 1993–94 New York Knicks season1993–94 New York Knicks seasonThe 1993–94 New York Knicks season was the 48th season of NBA basketball in New York City, New York.This marked the last season in which the Knicks were owned by Paramount Communications , which was sold near the end of the season to Viacom, which in turn sold them to ITT Corporation and Cablevision...
- 1993–94 Houston Rockets season1993–94 Houston Rockets seasonThe Houston Rockets won their first NBA title in franchise history. They defeated the New York Knicks in the 1994 NBA Finals to win the championship.-NBA Draft:-Depth chart:-Regular season:-Playoffs:-1994 NBA Finals Roster:...
- 1994 NBA Playoffs1994 NBA PlayoffsThe 1994 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1993-94 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Houston Rockets defeating the Eastern Conference champion New York Knicks 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals...
- 1994 Stanley Cup Finals1994 Stanley Cup FinalsThe 1994 Stanley Cup Final was a best-of-seven playoff series contested between the Eastern Conference champion New York Rangers and Western Conference champion Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League...