NBA's 60 Greatest Playoff Moments: #59

[kenny6449]

wow i feel sorry for him shaq destroyed him in the 2001 finals

[warrior34able]

Pretty ironic how George Karl eventually became denver's head coach. Lol.

[MegaPhonebooth]

@warrior34able not irony

[MultiBubbaFett]

that was jordans buddy though lol

[MelonMan24311]

These are the type of moments that give you chills there so great.

[Defender78]

LOL kemp trying to rack up a steal after the buzzer

[teesteven]

as a rockets fan this started the run to 2 championships because the sonics and kemp payton had our number big time. big reason the rockets traded for barkley because they could not get by the sonics but barkley always outplayed kemp or got him in foul trouble

[yagbadudel17]

man this should be at top 10, 1st 8th seed to beat the 1st seed, down 0-2, and winning the final game in OT.. who's with me?

[ace94d]

Now see Dikembe Mutombo...Dikembe Mutombo is a MAN.

Salutes here.

[SmoothMM]

One of the greatest smiles I've ever seen. Well played, Mutombo!

[DZG]

#60 ten times better

[CoolerKing37]

George Karl has the worst luck.

[AznM4fiaonyou]

Haha george karl hates the nuggets here lol

[caspianb132]

this is why the sonics left Seattle. LOL

[POKEMONADVANCBATTLE2]

not only they knocked out no 1 they came from 2-0

[wiseman2024]

NO NO NO!

[mcnalga]

this should be ALOT higher

[raclos234]

deke was even old by nba standards when he was drafted (age 25).!

[EvanConover]

Mutombo is a piece of shit who told the NBA to kiss his ass after he was passed up on being given Defensive Player of the Year in 1994. They finally gave it to him in 1995 to shut him up. That's why this was rated only at #59. I have much respect for his charitable work in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but fuck his basketball attitude.

[Koinuboy]

lol Mutombo part of the youngest player in the league. Hard to imagine now.

[voulgier]

What happened to the heart in the NBA? It went away with people like Mourning, Mutombo, Jordan when they retired.

[rocketballa4life]

man, i saw Deek at Publix in Atlanta a few weeks ago. I was shocked that he wasn't flooded by fans. Its a shame people worship the ground James walks on when people don't know who amazing players like Deek. Here's to you!

[gikib0i]

lol at Mutombo being on the youngest team in the league at the time.

[ChrisnSnoop]

Should be WAY higher than 59!

[Angelslover9]

that was an upset.

[playoffexpert1]

how the hell is this only 59?! its the 1st time this ever happened? wtf!

[maxedwell]

Oh yeah. And how the hell is this only #59? This should absolutely be a top 20 highlight, if not top 10 wtf? Those Sonics teams were freakin' good, and Kemp was like freakiest thing the NBA had seen w/ his combination of power, quickness and shooting skill. To beat that team as the #8 seed was insane

Put this one ahead of nearly all the Laker/Bulls/Celtics highlights. I'm a longtime Laker fan, so it's not like I'm hating on those teams, it's just that this "moment" is freakin' incredible!

[ChrisnSnoop]

@maxedwell

Not to mention the Nuggets were the YOUNGEST TEAM IN THE NBA, playing against a seasoned championship contender, and beat them on THEIR HOME FLOOR in Game 7! Should be WAY higher than 59.

[cubsfan4life33]

@ChrisnSnoop Sorry to nitpick almost a year after your comment, but they won the series in 5 games. This is back when the first round only when 5 games instead of 7.

[maxedwell]

For a long time, I only liked half of Dikimbe's game, that being his D. Until later in his career, Mutombo was a notorious "black hole" on offense, often forcing up poor shots in double coverage etc. He also had a TERRIBLE habit of killing potential fast breaks after he'd block a shot by instead holding the ball and wagging his finger etc. I mean, I loved his defense but don't blow transition opportunities! Eventually he quit doing that stuff so often w/ Houston when they got on him about it.

[maxedwell]

It's a lot like Shaq really. Shaq hurt a lot of his teams because he was merely average as a TEAM defender. Finally in 2000, coincidentally his ONLY MVP season, he began playing better team D. Previously Shaq would focus primarily on keeping his man in check so as to not lose the 1v1 matchup, yet let his teammates get burned. Doesn't show up in the stat sheets, but that's what he did. Phil Jackson challenged him to be a better team player and he (finally) did. Ditto w/ Mutombo in Houston.

[SinJackal]

Mutumbo was always one of my favorite players, even though he wasn't a huge scoring guy. I like how he played.

[raphaelgealogo]

man i miss the young mutombo

[Stupendous1984]

At the time, I was a huge Sonics fan, so I was upset to say the least, but looking back I can now see this moment for what it was, and that is one of the greatest and most memorable upsets not just in the NBA but in the world of sports.

[hushg2000]

I miss the hell out of 80's & 90's basketball!!!!

[skibothy]

me too man. the willis' and the duckworths, the eatons and coopers....... was a good time to be a basketball fan

[redamethy]

its the greatest upset in the history of the NBA when 67-15 dallas(1) beaten by a 42-40 warriors(8)....

[X26mankindX]

if you actually watched the nuggets play back then youd know thatt was the biggest upset its not all about numbers and stats.

[awesomeguy234564]

psssh the refs were terrible.

[Drakdaddy]

That series wasn't like this one though. The Mavs ALWAYS had a problem with the Warriors, especially when their old coach took over. The Nuggets/Sonics series was expected to be a blowout, and the fact that they were up 2 games to none

[Alex052480]

man i remember watchin that moment ..! i was like 15....

[astrotex]

it still gives me chills when that buzzer sounds during that highlight!

[lordgamington4]

Too bad Mutumbo got hurt and retired. He was the oldest current player in the NBA at 42 years old. My regards, Dik.

[Fujico6]

@lordgamington4 no he said hes 42 they donno dik real age ..

[geeimsobored]

You're seriously comparing that team to the current Nuggets? Mutombo is one of the most charitable people in the NBA, and that team defined heart, unlike the current Nuggets.

Go away.

[TUdaToken]

@geeimsobored only chauncey is the current nugget with heart

[mister528]

George Karl isn't a good playoff coach. The numbers dont lie. I think he's 25 games below .500% in the playoffs.

[anthonymonroe]

Seattle choked the series away.

[liweiwu007]

this is the nba not the wnba lol.

[liweiwu007]

and the nuggets almost became the first team to come back from 0-3 against the jazz next round.

[anthonymonroe]

True. The Seattle series took a lot out of Denver. If Denver could have won againgst Utah, that would have been even better. Now, the sonics moved to Oklahoma City. I think that Seattle will get another NBA franchise again. Name them the Sonics and build an arena like the one in Toronto, Houston, Miami, San Antonio, Indiana, Dallas, Portland, or Denver.

[liweiwu007]

i was surprised they let themselves be down 0-3 after an emotional win in game 5 against seattle. but utah really were worn out in that series, and bowed down in 5 games against the rockets.

[astrotex]

don't forget the rockets were in a 7 game series with phoenix the round before the utah series. so fatigue doesn't matter for utah...both teams were tired.

[KiPwnNubs]

if they did...nuggets woulda make history..came back 0-2 from sonics..0-3 from jazz..but they didnt

[liweiwu007]

like the 04 red sox

[luchopunk10]

fantastic mutumbo!

[mister528]

I MiSS DEKE!!

i dont think he made the trip to LA with the rockets hopefully he's on the bench game 3 vs lakers

[mister528]

If you an 8 seed and you defeat a 1 seed.

Your doing something right.

[THeMuFFiNmAN81]

or they're doing something wrong. either one hah

[hv238]

This might be the most genuine moment of happiness I've ever seen in the NBA

[HonoreT35]

Yes this and Stockton jumping up and down beaming after he hit the buzzer beater against Houston in 1997 conference finals to send the Jazz to first ever Finals. A stoic guy just losing control. Happiness just like Mutombo here. Sigh. What basketball was then!

[HuskerFanatic]

The upset that paved the way for the Rockets to win the World Championship. Thank you Denver.

[Sierra688]

Yeah, the Sonics were the only team that could have beaten the Rockets that year. Even the Knicks weren't nearly as good as the Rockets. They had to do the 'uglyball' thing to stay in it.

[kalelthesurfer]

yup from 1994 - 1996 they were 12-0 including the playoffs against houston. even in 1997 with barkley, drexler, hakeem they pushed it to 7 games.

[Valeron21V]

mutombo forever

[astrosfan611]

What is the name of this song?

[kmalloy11]

Yup, still feels like a punch to the stomach 15 years later.

[mister528]

My dream.

Is to coach in this league.

[mister528]

This is the 1st and greatest upset in NBA playoff history.

Perhaps, the Sonics would of won in a 7 game series, it was only 5 games and the Nuggets prevailed.

[kalelthesurfer]

Nah. Sonics were too immature to comeback and regain their senses. They were done in game 3 of that series.You can tell by the way they played. Even the next year they got ousted in the 1st round.They did mature in 1996, but unluckily battled with the Bulls in the finals.

[liweiwu007]

the sonics could have won against the rockets, the jazz, and the knicks. they picked a bad time to get monkeys off their backs. good thing payton did get a ring in miami.

[gothatway09]

Wow, in some ways this doesn't seem that long ago, but it was---15 freakin' years ago. I remember Mutombo was considered a new young player at the time, even though he entered the NBA at the relatively older age of 26 or so. Today he's always thought of as the over 40 old man still hanging around the league.

[xmailmanbiterx]

mutumbo <3

[mister528]

or...

george karl is a horrible coach.

[mr10tomidnight]

Like the Suns,Sonics had forwards trying to impersonate centers.These teams never had a legit center in the middle.If only Shaq had decided to carve out his own legacy in Seattle instead of follow those great centers in LA Sonics would have finally won a championship or two or three.

[1prouddemocrat]

mr10tomidnight, that's probably true. Not to mention the fact that Seattle would probably STILL HAVE an NBA team!

[SekaizZ]

damn can you imagine that.

Payton +Kemp+Shaq.

[raider8sox]

dis should be at top 20 at least.

[THEGREATMIAH777]

mt. mutombo

[aprilmarco]

Kemp got owned by mutumbo that whole series

[jaboo82681]

Mutombo owned the who Sonics team that series

[nuggets0388]

hell no, this has to be higher than #59

This was the first and greatest UPSET in NBA History, and 8 Seed over a 1

[0141666]

whats that kemp doing at the end?

[kshppatel]

trying to take the ball away because he is embarrased that the nuggets beat his team which hasd gpayton and sean kemp on it.

[LALAKERS8]

thats just great that image of mutumbo clutching the ball in victory just beautiful

[tqsuited]

iconic moment lol too bad im a sonics fan although at that time wasnt

[GoldxPurple]

What a beast...