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  September 2010

  M	T	W	T	F	S	S
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  		1	2	3	4	5
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  27	28	29	30

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Let me be the first person from Chicago to express my gratitude to the Portland Trail Blazers on this the 25th anniversary of the greatest gaffe, make that gift, in sports history. On this day in 1984, the Blazers went the traditional route of drafting a center — Kentucky big man Sam Bowie — with the number-two overall pick in the NBA Draft, allowing the Bulls to pick at third a player whom Ray Clay would later describe as being “from North Carolina, at guard, 6-6, Michael Jordan.” Bowie would have his career shortened by knee injuries while Jordan would only win six championships and go down as the greatest player of all time. Continue on to examine how some interesting circumstances, including the Bulls missing on another Hall-of-Famer in the 1983 NBA Draft, ended up leading Jordan to Chicago in the 1984 NBA Draft.

One of the NBA’s most controversial and colorful personalities took his act from the City of Brotherhood to the Valley of the Sun on this day in basketball history 17 years ago. After demanding a trade following a losing season with the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1991-1992 season, Charles Barkley got his wish when he was shipped off to the Phoenix Suns for Jeff Hornacek, Tim Perry and Andrew Lang. One of the most unbalanced trades in NBA history, Barkley would win the MVP and lead the Suns to the NBA Finals in his first season with the team while the 76ers would continue on a downward spiral. Continue on to examine Barkley’s years with the 76ers with a 1980s video so awfully awesome.

For the NBA’s all-time leading scorer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, June 16th has been a significant date in his illustrious basketball career. Back on this day in 1974, Abdul-Jabbar got the trade he desired when the Milwaukee Bucks shipped Walt Wesley and him to the Los Angeles Lakers for Elmore Smith, Junior Bridgeman, Brian Winters and Dave Meyers. Having nothing against the city of Milwaukee, Kareem simply wanted to play on a bigger stage in a larger market, which Los Angeles would certainly be. Just 27 years old at the time of this trade, Abdul-Jabbar would play with the Lakers until he was 41 and win five NBA championships in nine Finals appearances with the organization. Continue on to examine some other historical moments on this day for the artist formerly known as Lew Alicindor.

Two of the more memorable home games in Chicago Bulls history respectively took place 16 and 12 years ago today. In what would be only the second triple-overtime game in NBA Finals history, the Chicago Bulls would fall 129-121 to the Phoenix Suns at the Chicago Stadium in a Game Three of the 1993 NBA Finals that would be remembered for Dan Majerle stroking it “from beyond area code range” and Stacy King throwing the ball in the lap of Charles Barkley. Four years later, the Bulls would clinch their fifth championship thanks to a Steve Kerr jumper in Game Six of the 1997 NBA Finals at the bigger but less rocking United Center. Continue on to examine these classic playoff games in the illustrious history of the Chicago Bulls.

Just a few hours ago, the Pittsburgh Penguins upset the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 in a classic Game Seven of the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals to give the organization its first championship since 1992. While it doesn’t look like the 2009 NBA Finals will come anywhere close to a Game Seven, what’s considered by some to be the greatest Finals in the league’s history came to a winner-take-all finish 25 years ago today. Paced by 24 points from Cedric Maxwell and a plus-19 advantage on the boards, the Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 111-102 in Game Seven of the classic 1984 NBA Finals. Continue on to examine other championship clinchers on this day in basketball history, including Magic Johnson’s last Finals’ game and Michael Jordan’s first title in 1991, and the Lakers’ three peat in 2002.

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