Top Ten Most Unforgettable Moments in the NBA

1. THE CELTICS' EIGHT STRAIGHT

If the air in Boston seemed foggy every April from 1959 through 1966, it's because Celtics coach Red Auerbach never stopped lighting victory cigars. During the course of capturing 11 world championships in a 13-year span, Bill Russell, Sam Jones, and Co. won eight in a row. That's two three-peats plus a repeal (And try fitting that feat on a T-shirt.)

"Our key was our closeness," Jones says. "We knew each other's strengths and weaknesses and everybody was disciplined enough to stick to their task. Unlike players nowadays, we never had any jealousy."

Today, such a dynasty would be impossible. Free agency, something Auerbach didn't have to worry about, makes it difficult for a team to keep its nucleus intact for more than a few years. Also, a longer playoff season means more chances to get rubbed out en route to the victory parade. In seven of those eight champagne years, the Celtics had to survive only two rounds of playoffs. One year, they had to survive three. These days, a team has to win four rounds, and could play up to 26 games, before being fired for a ring.


2. WILT CHAMBERLAIN DROPS 100

This incredible feat took place in the unlikely locale of Hershey, Pa., in front of only 4,124 fans, and no footage of the game exists. As a result, you find yourself wondering if Chamberlain's 100-point game actually occurred as reported on March 2, 1962, or if it's just a basketball myth.

"Oh, he definitely did it," says Al Attles, Chamberlain's Philadelphia Warriors teammate. "And eight million people claim they saw it."

The complex defenses of today, especially the zone, make it extremely unlikely that any player would ever get to take the 63 shots from the field that Chamberlain put up that evening. And even having the game of one's life doesn't guarantee coming close to the century mark. In the 40 years since that unforgettable performance, the two highest point totals scored by someone other than Chamberlain have been have been 73 (David Thompson) and 71 (Elgin Baylor and David Robinson).

Says Attles, "That record falls only if they change the scoring system and create a four-point shot."

3. MJ'S 10 SCORING CROWNS

Michael Jordan's record 10 scoring titles is all the more eye-popping when you realize that he led the league in scoring average three more times than the once-unstoppable Chamberlain did, and won titles as both a 24-year-old aerialist and a 35-year-old jump-shooter.

"The only one with a shot at breaking it is Allen Iverson, but his body won't hold up," says ESPN analyst Fred Carter. "And he doesn't get enough easy baskets. Shaq gets easy baskets, but the Lakers offense isn't designed specifically for him, so I see this record going unchallenged."

4. CHAMBERLAIN'S 79 COMPLETE GAMES

It's not an official stat like in baseball, but during the 1961-62 season, "The Big Dipper" played every minute in all but one regular season game. (Seasons consisted of 80 games back then.) And that included a stretch of 47 straight nights without a breather.

In this age of megabucks contracts and marathon postseasons, teams won't let their most valuable investments put that kind of mileage on their engines. With, say, Chris Webber already worn down by the rigors of cross-country travel, rough defensive play, and the demands of the media, why in the name of James Naismith would his coach want him to play 48 minutes against the Golden State Warriors in the last week of the season?

Says Hall of Fame center Nate Thurmond, "Better athletes have made the game faster than it was, so playing a complete game now would be harder and more exhausting than when Wilt did it."

5. THE 37-POINT GAME

Whoever complains about the scoring drought in today's pro game should be reminded of the night of November 22, 1950. That's when the visiting Fort Wayne Pistons beat the Minneapolis Lakers, 19-18, in the lowest-scoring contest in NBA history. The Pistons and Lakers couldn't have shot the lights out that night if there was nothing more than a pair of 40-watt bulbs hanging from the ceiling.

Some stats from that game are mind-boggling. The Lakers shot just 22% from the field, scored one point in the fourth quarter, and had to rely on star center George Mikan for 15 of their 18 points. And you thought Iverson carried too much of his team's load.

Though this may come as bad news to defensive gurus like Miami Heat coach Pat Riley, we'll never again see a game as short on points as that snoozer in Minny. The reason: It took place in an era when a team could hold the ball for as long as it liked in order to kill time and reduce an opponent's scoring chances. Four years later, mercifully, the 24-second clock was introduced.

6. THE 370-POINT GAME

By the end of this triple-overtime thriller in the thin Rocky Mountain air on December 13, 1983, it wasn't clear who was more in need of oxygen: the players or the official scorer.

By the time the Detroit Pistons defeated the Denver Nuggets, 186-184, the game had gone on for three hours and 11 minutes, 251 field goals and 117 free throws had been attempted, four players had poured in more than 40 points each, and the scorer's table had run out of scoring sheets.

"It was a very rare night," former Pistons guard Isiah Thomas says. "We were two running teams who were shooting well, so everybody was turned on."

In the current defensive-minded NBA--where cracking the 100-point mark is cause for celebration--some teams don't total 186 points in two games. It's unrealistic to expect that all the elements that came together that night in Denver--three overtimes, sharpshooters like Thomas, Alex English, Kelly Tripucka, and Kiki Vandeweghe all having hot hands, and numerous desperation shots falling--will ever be repeated.

7. KAREEM'S SIX MVPS

The legendary center, who was known as Lew Alcindor when. he was first handed the trophy in 1971, won three MVP awards as a Milwaukee Buck and three as a Los Angeles Laker. How impressive are those half-dozen pieces of hardware? Well, they're more than Jordan (5), Russell (5), and Chamberlain, (4) received and as many as Magic Johnson (3) and Larry Bird (3) have combined.

Capturing even one MVP award requires putting up impressive numbers, being a team leader, getting along with the press, avoiding off-court problems, staying injury-free, and, most likely, finishing in first place. That's quite a challenge.

Despite O'Neal's utter dominance, Iverson's machine-like point production, and Tim Duncan's ability to carry a franchise, there have been eight different MVPs in the past 10 seasons. Shaq, Iverson, or Duncan would need to capture the award six more times to surpass Jabbar. No offense, fellas, but you're not even going to get Kareem's attention until one of your trophy cases boasts at least five.

8. THE BIG O'S TRIPLE-DOUBLE TROUBLE

If a player totals at least 10 points, 10 assists, and 10 rebounds in a game nowadays, he practically becomes the poster boy for ESPN's "SportsCenter." During the 1961-62 campaign, though, Cincinnati Royal Oscar Robertson averaged a triple-double with 30.8 points, 11.4 assists, and 12.5 rebounds.

"There's nobody talented enough to ever do that again," Thurmond says. "If Jordan couldn't do it, nobody can."

That's because the only position on the court with any hope of repeatedly notching triple-doubles is point guard, and no floor general has ever crashed the boards the way Robertson did. At 6'5" and 230 pounds, "The Big O" may have been the strongest point guard who ever played, and he rebounded like a small forward. Had ESPN existed in his day, he'd have been labeled a dribbling deity.

What may be even more phenomenal is that Robertson didn't just average a triple double in 1961-62; he averaged one overall through the first five seasons of his career (30.3 ppg, 10.6 apg, and 10.4 rpg).

9. CHAMBERLAIN'S 50.4 PPG SEASON

Wilt's record 50.4 ppg came during that 1961-62 season, when the iron man totaled 4,029 points (surely another untouchable record) and literally never rested. The only player who has dared challenge the number is Chamberlain himself, who averaged 44.8 points the very next season. The next closest guy not named Wilt is Jordan, whose best effort was a 37.1 average in 1986-87.

"Wilt's record is the equivalent of Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak," Thurmond says. "It's safe because no coach today will let his player take that many shots."

10. THE CELTICS' 40-1 HOME RECORD

Bird, Kevin McHale, and the rest of the guys in black sneakers posted an untouchable 40-1 mark at Boston Garden during the 1985-86 season. (Throw in the playoffs, and Boston was 50-1.) No powerhouse, not even the 72-win Chicago Bulls of 1995-96, has matched the Celtics' home-court mastery.

And no one ever will because today's arenas don't provide the kind of advantage the old barns of the past did. Sure, it gets plenty noisy in Sacramento, Utah, and Indiana, but in creaky Boston Garden the rabid fans were practically on top of the players, the dead spots in the parquet floor drove opposing dribblers crazy, the visitors' locker room was a claustrophobic dump, and the choking humidity and absence of air conditioning combined to wilt many a playoff opponent in June.

Sadly, the Gah-den is no more. In the NBA, nothing lasts forever. Except, of course, for these 10 records. They'll still be around long after Kobe Bryant is a great-grandfather, the Cleveland Cavaliers have won an NBA championship, and the obsolete. STAPLES Center has been imploded.