Empty the Bench

By Zachariah Blott

In reality, the top 10 stories of any decade are the 10 champions, but I’m looking at stories beyond that. Stories that carried on for a long time, carried a sign of changing times, or carried into the news world outside of NBA fans. Here are 10 from the 00′s you probably remember or should remember.

10. Mandatory Dress Code: On the heels of the Pistons-Pacers brawl and various other image problems for the league (e.g. The Jail Blazers, Allen Iverson), Commissioner David Stern implemented a dress code in 2005 for all NBA players before and after games, on the bench while injured, and at press conferences. Players are supposed to wear a suit or sport coat at such times, and are banned from donning t-shirts, jeans, Timberland style boots, and large jewelry.

9. #8 Beats #1: The eighth-seeded Warriors took out the West’s top seed, Dallas Mavericks, 4-2 in the first round of the 2007 playoffs. Behind a frantic, up-tempo style of play that came to be known as Nellie Ball after Head Coach Don Nelson, Golden State became the first #8 seed to knock off a #1 in a best-of-seven series.

8. Lakers’ Three-peat: Head Coach Phil Jackson joined the Lakers in 1999, and LA promptly went on to win the first three Championships of the decade. Behind dominant performances by Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, and a cast of phenomenal role players, the new Showtime started the decade by reeling off the NBA’s first three-peat since Jordan’s Bulls.

7. Kobe Bryant’s 81: On January 22, 2006, Bryant dropped 81 points on the Raptors while leading the Lakers to a 122-104 victory. At the half Bryant had notched “just” 26 points and his team trailed 63-49. Then Kobe went to work. The effort ranks as the second-most points ever in a contest, behind only Wilt Chamberlain’s epic 100-point performance in 1962. Bryant hit 28 of 46 shots—including 7 of 13 threes—and 18 of 20 free throws.

6. First Openly Gay Player: Four years after his retirement, John Amaechi became the first NBA player to announce that he was gay during a February, 2007 interview. Later that year he published “Man in The Middle,” a book about his career as a closeted player. Many current and retired players expressed their thoughts, most famously Tim Hardaway’s “I wouldn’t want him on my team … I don’t think he should be in the locker room when we’re in the locker room … it’s going to be hard for your teammates to win and accept him as a teammate.” Hardaway later apologized.

Stories five through one, after the jump …

5. Jayson Williams’ Murder/Manslaughter Charges: On Valentine’s Day, 2002, limo driver Costas Christofi was killed by a shotgun that former Net and 76er Williams was reportedly playing with inside his New Jersey mansion. He was acquitted of aggravated manslaughter charges, but he paid $2.75 million to the family of Christofi in a wrongful death civil lawsuit. Williams currently awaits a second reckless manslaughter trial.

4. The Uber-Globalization of the Game: The league is long past the days of Arvydas Sabonis and Detlef Schrempf. China’s Yao Ming was the #1 pick of the 2002 draft, and he’s since cemented his status as one of the decade’s top players, along with Germany’s Dirk Nowitzki (2007 MVP) and Canada’s Steve Nash (2005, 2006). The Democratic Republic of Congo’s Dikembe Mutombo won his record 4th Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2001, and France’s Tony Parker won the 2007 NBA Finals MVP. After the USA basketball team completely comprised of NBA players barely pulled out a gold in the 2000 Olympics, they placed 6th at the 2002 World Championships, 3rd at the 2004 Olympics, and 3rd at the 2006 Worlds Championships. Every NBA team except three currently has at least one foreign-born player on their roster.

3. Kobe Bryant Sexual Assault Allegation: Katelyn Faber claimed that the decade’s most popular player raped her at the Colorado hotel where she worked in July of 2003. Bryant admitted to having an extramarital affair with the 19-year-old, but the case was dropped when she refused to testify in the trial. He settled a civil suit out of court. His image took a hit for a while, but Bryant eventually regained his status as the world’s most marketable basketball superstar.

2. Tim Donaghy: Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy pleaded guilty in 2007 to federal charges of betting on and affecting the spreads of games in which he officiated. He spent 11 months in federal prison and is currently in the process of publishing a tell-all book alleging that NBA executives manipulated games through the referees for years.

1. The Malice at the Palace: Ron Artest set off one of the craziest brawls in NBA history on November 19, 2004, by running into the Detroit stands to attack a fan who threw a plastic cup at him with 45.9 seconds remaining in a contest with his Indiana Pacers. The ensuing melee involving Artest, Stephen Jackson, Jermaine O’Neal and multiple fans on and off the court ended the game, resulted in 146 games of suspension among nine players, and cast a dark shadow over the sport.

Zachariah Blott cannot recommend Rick Telander’s “Heaven Is A Playground” enough.

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