[.ca] NBA Hardwood Classics: Greatest NBA Finals Moments

From Amazon.com:
The intensity and drama of the final series of the National Basketball Association each year is perhaps the most exciting conclusion of any sports season, with its seven-game series of East versus West. Some of these championship games linger in the mind and ingrain themselves into popular mythology, games that were heart-poundingly close or peppered with moments of unsurpassed excellence: buzzer-beaters, overtimes, Herculean individual performances, the victorious underdog, and the comeback. Greatest NBA Finals Moments reminds us that in the short history of professional basketball, there have been countless instances of these unbelievable achievements. Take for example the 1970 New York Knicks team, who managed to defeat a far superior Los Angeles Lakers dynasty (which included Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, and Jerry West) without their season-long MVP Willis Reed. Or Isiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons who fought valiantly against injury and excruciating pain to score 25 points in the third quarter of an important game 5 versus the Lakers' second-generation dynasty of Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and James Worthy. Detroit may have lost that day, but the sheer tenacity and brilliance of Thomas is still spoken of today. Interviews with NBA superstars Sam Jones, Larry Bird, Paul Westphal, Michael Jordan, and many more set the tone for this compelling retrospective. It is only fitting that the concluding shot in this documentary belongs to the man who redefined the concept of last-minute heroics. And if you can't guess who it is, you definitely need to watch this video. --Jeremy Storey

Additional Features:
The DVD of Greatest NBA Finals Moments includes a variety of bonus features. The NBA Top 50 ceremony from the 1997 All-Star Game is shown (7:30) as well as clips and interviews of the 50 greatest players (14:30). A three-minute music video shows NBA Finals highlights, and the 1999 and 2000 NBA Finals are excerpted in 8- and 10-minute segments, respectively. The main feature offers options to jump to alternate angles, brief bonus segments on such players as Michael Jordan and Larry Bird, and career statistics. Other features include year-by-year NBA Finals results as well as career regular-season, All-Star, and playoff statistics of Bill Russell, Willis Reed, John Havlicek, Bill Cowens, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas, and Michael Jordan.

OK feature with 1 exceptional bonus:
Back when NBA basketball was at its healthiest (the Magic through Michael era)there was a natural progression of teams rising over a great opponent to the championship. Lakers over Celtics; Celtics over Lakers; Sixers over Celts/Lakers; Pistons over Celts/Lakers; Bulls over Pistons, etc... This DVD mostly covers some of the hilights of this period. But the focus really is on the great players of this era (Bird, Magic, Isiah, Michael) and not on the Finals "Greatest Moments". It covers: *Celtics - underdog '76 team beats the run 'n gun Suns *Lakers - 76ers heartbreaking loss in '80w/ Magic at center *Pistons - Isiah leads Detroit to the title *Knicks - heroic '70 team beats Wilt-led Lakers *Bulls - montage of Michael greatness There are some hilight clips of everyone from Cousy to Walton that bookend the feature, but how could they leave out the Sixers dominant run of '83 or the Rockets improbable back-to-back titles in Jordan's 1st retirement?!? Fans of 80s NBA will get their fill and of course, Jordan is better represented elsewhere, but overall the feature was lacking. How bout a Top Ten Finals Moments? Or Top Finals of each decade? They could have done a lot more and instead, it just feels thrown together. The true gem of the DVD is the edited 50 Greatest NBA Players presentation which every NBA fan can appreciate. To my knowledge, it does not appear anywhere else, and if so, are worth the price of the DVD.

AWESOME:
Detailed stats of each NBA finals is awesome