The Season That Was
What’s your ‘07-08 snapshot moment?The worst thing for people in our business is when nothing interesting is going on. Want evidence? Check out how media outlets start rolling out crazy ideas and concepts that happen to coincide with the “slow” parts of the sports calendar, or how on a slow news day they’ll just rehash dead stories and try to breathe new life into them (i.e. Pacman Jones or Brett Favre).
So in that regard, we’ve been loving this NBA season. From Opening Night to the very last day of the regular season, there was always a compelling storyline going on, and that has continued into the postseason. Whether it was Kobe, Chris Paul, the Celtics, LeBron, the Western Conference playoff race, the tragi-comedies of the Knicks and Heat, the Shaq/Kidd/Gasol trades, or the Rockets’ win streak, there was always something — a player, a game, a play, a moment, a move or a trend — worth talking about.
What was your best memory of the 2007-08 NBA season? Tell us in the “Comments” section or send an e-mail to smack@dimemag.com and we’ll print some of the best answers in an upcoming issue of Dime.**
(** = Dime reserves the right to edit submissions for length and clarity.)
May 5th, 2008 at 11:50 am
the_don_mega says:
for me, the best memory of the past season is the beef between Lebron and the Wizards…
May 5th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Chuck...A source of knowldge for all says:
The Chris Paul story has to be the most compelling story that I heard this year.
Hurrican katrina devastated the city and the people of New orleans, and I have to applaud the NBA this year for supporting that city, by having the all-star game there and bringing the exceitement of the NBA back to New Orleans.
Chris Paul isn’t the most athletic player in the NBA, he is one of the fastest though, and has one of the best basketball IQ’s of any basketball player in the NBA today.
He revived the spirit of basketball for New Orleans.
Tyson Chandler, and David West aren’t nearly as effective without Chris Paul. he is the engine that makes the offense and the defense run, he led the league in steals and assist this year. He is also very charismatic concerning the media, and you can tell he just loves the game of basketball.
Chris Paul has a bright future as long as Injuries don’t interfere with what is most likely a hall of fame future.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Celts Fan says:
Best memory of ‘08? One word: Relevancy.
FINALLY
May 5th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
TJ says:
My best (or worts) memory from the past season is painfullly watching my favorite player, Dwyane Wade, continue to play, and possible risk his career, when everybody else knew he should just shut it down. The problem isn’t just that he played but that he played at level so much lower than we all know he can that it was depressing. It was capped off at the Skills Challenge when he lost the ball into the stands when trying to go around one of the obstacles. This has been a great year, really one of the best in a long time, for many reasons but this situation by itself keeps me from totally enjoying it. I’m out like Mike Bibby’s big game rep after those four games in Boston.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Logan Light says:
It’s got to be DJ Mbenga getting crammed on that one time… and then that other time… and then again… and again…
LL
May 5th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
TJ says:
worst* not worts ha
May 5th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
JA says:
What began looking like a re-run (another CP3 to Chandler allyoop), ended with Jason Maxiell blocking Tyson onto his back.
Also, the Raptors showing up for another solid half a season.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
steven says:
Underdogs! If they didn’t bite at least we heard them bark aka the 76ers winning two against the Pistons.
There was a time that I thought the Blazers were playoff-bound too!
The Hawks taking the Celtics to game 7. (Although I thought Salim would be a little better than average but he appears to be on route to be just mediocre at best.)
I’m not a Lakers fan in the least but to watch Kobe and Gasol play is seriously some 9th symphony shit.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
girlybballluver says:
I agree with TJ…wade is my fav player, and the heat’s my team. This whole season…including most of last season has been pretty rough to say the least.
The best moment of the season for me happened in the playoffs. Duncan hittin’ that 3 on the suns to send the game to overtime was too great for words. I HATE the suns, which made it even better. (excluding Grant of course)
May 5th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Bond says:
Being a Magic fan I am a little biased, but the me the best story was the rise of Dwight Howard. Beginning with All-Star weekend and the “superman” dunk, and most recently with three 20/20 games in the first round he is single handedly putting the Magic back on the national radar.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
djKianoosh says:
the amazing race to the playoffs in the West has to be the main story of the season. nothing was settled in the seeds until the last week, and all the teams were playing high quality ball. and it definitely affected the first round because the Nuggets were shell shocked by LA’s efficiency, and the Suns and Mavs maybe would have fared better against other teams. Their trades just didn’t work out, but they felt the pressure to change things up to compete, which added to the drama and intrigue late in the year.
a few other points..
The high quality ball has been there all year from the top teams. purists gotta love it.
TNT once again proves why they are the best sports show for any sport. Sometimes I tuned back in to their post-game even if the game was boring.
Chris Paul, phenom.
Kobe, yet another level?
The swiftness of Boston’s resurgence.
Lebron, doing it all by himself, again.
Knicks suck. woohoo.
AI (un)surprisingly took over Melo’s team, and they still can’t play D. But 168 points was exciting.
more great basketball tonight, Hornets-Spurs…
May 5th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
GEE...Well im imp da dimp the ladies pimp ... says:
Best memory of the season would have to be the battle for position in the West. This brought out the whole what is better (16 top teams regardless of conference vs. 8 and 8 from East and West) debate. Eight 50 win teams and 1 in the high 40’s. The battle for final spots and positions came down to the last game if not the last 2 or 3 games for West teams. A playoff before the playoffs if you will. Can’t recall a time where every game meant so much down the wire for West teams.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
GEE...Well im imp da dimp the ladies pimp ... says:
The 22 game winning streak. Regardless of strength of schedule or who was hurt, the Rockets beat whoever was in front of them for 22 straight. A record that will not likely happen again soon. Houston up!
May 5th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
E$ says:
22 straight! Nothing tops the story of the “Historical Rockets”
May 5th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
word says:
tim duncan scoring all time low 5 points in a playoff game. yep that was satisfying for me.
May 5th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
dh says:
lakers & suns game after the shaq trade.
May 5th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Oscarisalakerfan says:
the epic duel down in the dessert right after the all star break ….gasol v shaq ……….in shaqs first game as a sun
May 5th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
DAPro says:
I would have to say the entire season for me was a huge payoff.
First the offseason trades and pickups
In season trades and signings
22 game win streak
Dunk contest was official
Boston winning 60+ games
Kobe trusting his teammates and taking the West for the #1 spot
The wild run out West with G-State missing the playoffs
The list goes on. After last year and the Tim Donaghy scandal, the league needed a season like this! This is one of the best seasons I’ve seen in years and this is coming from a Chi-town fan that saw his team crash this year.
May 5th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Sam I Am says:
I favored the 22 game winning streak
May 5th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Dave says:
My favorite memory of this season will be waking up every morning and looking to see where everyone stood for the playoffs in the West. I’ve never cared so much about so many games for the last 2 months of an NBA season like I did this year.
The other memory I have of this season is Chris Paul’s emergence, and Deron Williams right on his heels, at becoming the best point guards to play the game since Stockton. They both made all of the other stud PG’s look old and helped their teams win.
May 5th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
K Dizzle says:
Pau Gasol in a Lakers uni right after Bynum goes down was a beautiful rollercoaster memory
May 5th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
MSkittle says:
Ray Allen’s three against the Bobcats.
May 5th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
BxBaller says:
Crawford pulling those crazy moves on D-Will & Hinrich
May 5th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Scott says:
As a Raps fan, the coming out party that Jose Calderon had while TJ was out, that was amazing, I mean he was pretty darn close to being an All-Star, there were at the least enough rumblings about it.
Aside from Raps stuff, the maturation of a young Chris Paul.
Dude just runs games. The Hornets will go as far as he takes them, and right now I think he may be the 2nd most unstoppable player in the L, Kobe being #1.
My favorite story of the season has been Kobe’s own maturation of sorts, becoming the teammate that he needed to be to a) get the MVP trophy but b) and most importantly have a real chance at a Title run.
May 5th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Jeffrey says:
My favorite moments are:
1)Whenever DJ Mbenga gets baptized &
2)Stephen A Smith going nuts on the Pau Gasol for Kwame Brown trade.
May 5th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
MoxWestCoastRep says:
I’m right there with Kdiz…
It was the worst and best feeling in about a 3 week span where Bynum went down and the Laker hopes for a title were crushed, and then the news that Kupchek pulled off the greatest heist since the Da Vinci Code by trading the miserable Kwame Brown and change for the Spanish Savior Pau Gasol.
May 5th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
G says:
The episodes of the Domi.Nick effect and whatever other antics the nuts on the Wizards pulled
May 5th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Eric says:
I am a huge Warriors fan, so I have to say that I was a little depressed when my boys started the season 0-6, but they bounced back and played really good for most of the season until the end when they were unable to beat out any of the other really good teams in the west. Even though we didn’t make the playoffs, there was this stretch in February when Monta Ellis went off and shot 60% for the entire month! He was only the 9th guard in NBA history to do that! It was unbelievable watching him play. It got to the point where if he was pulling up for his silky mid-range jumper, or dashing to the rack for a spectacular lay-in I would expect him to make it every time. It truly was a great year for the NBA.
Another big part of the NBA was the Slam Dunk Contest. Finally there was some excitement and hype for an extremely entertaining event. I haven’t been excited after watching a dunk contest since J-Rich in 2003, and this year changed all that. I must have wore my DVR out re watching that thing. Dwight was a monster. When he bounced it off the board midair I was running around my living room going crazy. Every dunker brought something great to the table this year, and hopefully that carries over into next years contest. The players need to understand that the bar has been raised. I want a contest like that every year.
I also have to say that I loved watching all the undersized back up power forwards. Maxiell, Millsap, Brandon Bass, Leon Powe…these guys would come off the bench and tear teams up with their energy.
May 5th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
godfreyallstar says:
spurs suns game 1
May 5th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
andre says:
i gotta agree with godfreyallstar on this one. that game was insane cuz my brother’s a suns fan and i’m a former spurs fan. also, the putback slam by nate robinson against the heat. i remember watching it and going nuts!!
May 5th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Reed Ewing Frazier says:
My favorite moments are: Isiah Thomas giving his patent “fuck you” smile while the NYK fans were chanting “Fire Isiah” at home games.
The dumbass NYK fans protesting with big pink slips outside the Garden.
Soulja Boy at the 3rd playoff game between Clevand and Washington.
Marv Albert,Jeff Van Gundy,etc calling Soulja Boy a one hit wonder on t.v. and giving props to JAY-Z(lol)
The Wizards fouling LeBron hard.(Props to Songalia,DeShawn and Brendan)
The overhyped PHX Suns losing in the first round.
Bitch ass Pat Riley resigning as coach of the Heat
All Golden State Warriors games on TNT,ESPN,and ABC
Knicks Up all the rest down!!!
May 5th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Three Stacks says:
The quality of the game has gone up over the past couple of years, which is proven by the number of “must-see” matchups that were present during the regular season.
In the past, there weren’t as many good matchups/rivalries, maybe two or three “must-see” matchups a year. But this year? Almost every time the top 9 in the West played each other, every time the Celtics played a Western playoff team, every time a Texas team played another Texas team, every time Lebron played against someone able to give him a run as “the best player in the game,” every time Deron played against CP3, etc, you were guaranteed a good game. And the players didn’t disappoint.
Not only that, scoring is continually going up (remember, no team averaged over a 100 ppg five years ago, thank you Phoenix), the extra year in college is helping the rookies adjust to the League quicker, and the NBA is growing exponentially around the globe. It’s a good time to be a fan, I’d say.
May 5th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
rootsradical says:
watching skip toy with sascha and sascha cathcing feelings.
May 5th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Three Stacks says:
Oh, and Kevin Durant against the Nuggets toward the end of the year, hitting a three at the end of regulation to tie it, then hitting a 30+ foot bomb to tie it again at the end of 1st OT. The Sonics won it in the second overtime.
It’s not that I’m a big Seattle fan, or even a Denver hater. It was just fun watching a young, scrappy team rally behind it’s two future cornerstones (both Durant and Jeff Green had 30+ points), and how fervently the crowd was cheering for a team that barely won 20 games. I remember thinking the whole time, “Enjoy it while you can, Seattle.” If Clay Bennett succeeds in moving that team, it sucks for the fans, it really does.
May 5th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Ross says:
I agree with those who said Spurs/Suns Game 1.
May 5th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
kb24! says:
watching the knicks blooper plays. haha.
May 5th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Don Mega says:
.. realizing just how small the half a brain gerald green possesses really is .
May 5th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Smitty313 says:
My favorite moment has not came yet. It would be when my second favorite basketball player EVER next to MJ, hoist up his first MVP trophy, and hopefully a fourth ring and finals MVP.
May 5th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
ML says:
My Favorite Moment was when K-Mart was on the opening day roster. Dude worked his ass off. He has come back from 2 Microfracture Surgeries. The Dude is Insane. But in a good way. He may have lost a couple of moves. But to me he still got it.
May 5th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Kobeef says:
When I look back at this year I think of it as the “year of humility”. In order to win, some superstars had to bow to the team. Others, who blamed the team for their failures learned “for every finger you point, there will be three pointing back at you”, and often for good reason.
1. When Garnett FINALLY got traded out of ‘Sota to a team that has better than a snowball’s chance in hell at winning a championship
2. Bynum averaging a double-double after being called-out by Kobe
3. Shaq standing up at the Suns game pointing to his championship ring and the fans going nuts.
3a. Suns getting eliminated in round 1
4. The fans in Atlanta going INSANE during the first win against Boston in rd. 1
5. Philly better without Iverson. Makes the playoffs as the 7th (and almost) 6th seed.
6. Mark “I can buy a win” Cuban losing in the first round, again.
7. Birdman’s comeback!
8. After complaining about wanting to get more respect and that he deserves to be “The Man”, Marion gets traded to a team where he is “The Man” and has about the same impact as Ricky Davis.
9. Pat Riley quitting on his team after bitching at his players about quitting on him.
10. LA Lakers trade Kwame and a bag of chips to Grizzlies and in return get Rookie of the Year, All-Star, World Champion Pau Gasol.
11. Yao goes down with a season ending injury and his team instantly improves, winning the next 22 games.
12. For the fourth year in a row Atlanta drafts a forward…but it works this time and after a nice playoff run can say - it worked (sort of)!!
May 5th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Homeless J says:
The Blazers win streak.
I’ve lived in Oregon my whole life and have been a trailblazer fan since I was a little kid, in the porter-drexler-kersey-duckworth days. I watched almost every miserable game the Blazers played over the past three seasons, whether they won or not, so it’s nice to see the payoff starting to come.
May 5th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
AY says:
This is the year that david stern lost it:
evidence show that sonics ownership lied to stern and didn’t want to keep the team in seattle, stern stands behind the ownership
1) sonics ownership wanted to move out of seattle, stern does nothing
2) the referee betting scandal
3) sonics sued by the city, sterns stands behind the ownership
4) the knicks get sued, get embarrassed by isiah
5) the sonics ownership trying to sell the name “supersonics” to the city of seattle, sterns stands behind the ownership
6) spurs embarrass the nba and stern with “hack-a-shaq” throughout their playoff series against the suns
7) no one on the celtics got suspended for leaving the bench as opposed to EXACTLY a year ago when diaw and stoudemire got suspended for the same thing
May 5th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
daquest?on says:
the hawks playoffs run
May 5th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
kowtz says:
Boston - ATL 4-3…
May 5th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
kowtz says:
Seriously BTW… Lakers fan here, but Jordan Farmar??? endorsing Addidas? within the likes of TMac, KG, and dwight howard????
May 6th, 2008 at 1:51 am
Penny says:
1. Houston’s 22
2. The Superman Dunk
3. Jamal Crawford giving Kirk Hinrich concrete feet
4. Portland in early playoff contention - yeah… portland…
5. Ray Ray’s Triple over the BETcats
6. Kenny Smith getting his ‘Kobe on’ but getting run over by a car and leaving his shoes behind!
7. ‘It Takes 5′ ads and Paraphernalia.
8. CP v DWill. Who needs Steve?
9. Isiah v Marbury - “I’ve enough of these motherf*kin snakes on this motherf*kin plane…” isiah likes the word ‘bitch’, NYK interns like Marbury’s truck…
10. PHX-SA OT with duncan’s 3. it’s a pity cos Nawlins will wax the spurs…
And finally…
11. Baron Davis’ Beard… behind his beard is another beard…
May 6th, 2008 at 4:53 am
joe says:
the chris paul story: step 2
May 6th, 2008 at 7:20 am
Suciniac says:
So, many good memories.Two of them happened even before the season started.KG’s trade….about time dude got some help.Oden’s season done even before it started.
Portland’s early season play and win streak.Trailblazers are my team and I thought we would be cellar dwellers for sure.We gave a 20-10 guy away for Frye and Oden goes down FOR THE SEASON.Very proud of the way they played and surprised by the whole team,especially Roye.Dude was good but when those MVP talks came I was having goose bumps.
And I second the Spurs/Suns game 1.Best game of the season by far.
May 6th, 2008 at 9:43 am
sweetv0mit says:
rockets 22 game winning streak and west playoff race….
May 6th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Utes Fan says:
I’m a crazy Jazz fan. My faves are D-Will cramming it on, Kaman and Chandler, taking it coast to coast over LeBron and Big Z to win the game against Cleveland. Crossing up Fish. Crossing up Calderon. Crossing up Paul then stuffing over Chandler, I know I already mentioned that but it was awesome. D-Will taking it to Rafer in the playoffs and stuffing to seal the win. Deron Williams produced most of my favorite moments this season. Other moments, AK47 becoming relevant again. Thank you Jeff Hornacek. Ronnie Brewer breaking out. Kyle Korver revitalizing the team. Getting rid of the cancer that was Gordan Giricek. Morris Almond being the “Kobe of the D-League”. Krylylo Fesenko grabbing seven boards against LA. Boozer being Boozer. Memo chucking threes. Korver chucking threes, D-Will chucking threes, Ronnie Price chucking threes. The Jazz as a team taking and making three point shots. D-Will taking control of the team. Stepping up big, being the leader.
Watching Matt Harpring get in Ron Artest’s head. Watching Matt Harpring get in Kenyon Martin’s head. Matt Harpring is a stud.
Watching the comparisons between D-Will and Chris Paul grow. Watching Chris Paul in New Orleans. As much as I like Deron, I gotta give Chris his due. He is phenomenal.
Game six of Atlanta and Boston.
Games one and two of New Orleans and San Antonio.
Watching the big trades. Seeing Shaq play in Phoenix. Watching Kidd lose after he forced a trade. Maybe I’m cynical, but he deserved to lose. He bitched about the team in New Jersey, but he was their best player. It was HIS job to make that team good. He deserved to lose in Dallas.
This season is fun. Go Jazz and go Hornets! I would LOVE to see Deron and Chris go head to head in the Western Conference finals.