From a sports perspective, it being what turned out to be NBC's final NBA telecast seemed like (even though the year was 2002) this marked the official end of the '90s culturally. :(
Kim Martin i agree. The NBA on TNT is the greatest NBA telecast next to the NBA on NBC. Hopefully the NBA will go back to NBC in 2016. NBC does a great job with broadcasting. idk about the NFL but i happened to glance at the beginning of a NHL on NBC telecast and it brought back memories of the NBA on NBC
Alvin Stuckey Sadly we have to be stuck with BSPN for another 10 years. I would have like that CBS and NBC both having the NBA. NBC could have had The Eastern Conference and CBS could have had The Western Conference . and TNT of course would have Thursday Night games and NBA TV would have games.
The end of an era not just NBA on NBC but the 90's from a cultural standpoint since the early 2000s still had the 90s vibe till around 2002-03, after that things started to suck.
I remember watching this live and knowing what was going on before Bob Costas even brought it up, well before the days of RUclips, this had been the first time I'd seen that intro in a good 10 years. Unbelievable it's now been over 15 years since this game. Sighhhhh
@@calhoun24 It's also a full circle moment for Phil Jackson to win the NBA championship as head coach for NBC's first and last NBA Finals (1991 and 2002). The Los Angeles Lakers were also on the very first NBA on NBC telecast (November 3, 1990) and the very last (June 12, 2002).
At 2:56 Bob Costas said "This is the Larry O'Brien trophy, emblematic of the NBA championship." He uttered those exact words before game 5 of the 1991 NBA Finals which was the night of the first championship for the Chicago Bulls.
What is this WWE thing you speak of? It was the WWF in the 90s. Ironically enough, it was about 1 month before this game that they switched over to being WWE because of the World Wildlife Fund lawsuit. Another thing to note in the "2002-03 is when things started sucking" file.
I fucking miss how NBA on NBA gave each series, hell each game a narrative, it made the games feel more immersive and purposeful, it has the dramatic element like a TV show. Im gonna wait for NBA on NBC to return in 2025, I'll wait.
The NBA on NBC...Great memories from my childhood and even with owning the games on DVD (Original Broadcasts, btw), I still get pumped to the theme song
Coming fall 2025, the NBA on NBC returns. I'm beyond happy that a part of my childhood will be coming back with the NBA on NBC back in business. No NBA finals for NBC this time unfortunately,, but NBC's part of the new deal is still pretty impressive. NBC got the B package, basically what TNT had but with a little extra like the WNBA making their return to NBC as well and USA men's and women's basketball. Welcome back NBA on NBC.
Hmm... it's like the NBA on NBC anticipated this game as its final broadcast so they used the opening from their first season (1990-1991) to close the circle.
Faisal Amalo well I think his point was there could have been more games in the series, but of course we all knew as NBC did that the Lakers were not going to lose
I think NBC basically made that call following game 3. 3-0 is different from 2-1 and the Nets threw everything including the kitchen sink in game 3. New Jersey did everything they could in game 3 and it wasn't enough. When you throw your best Sunday punch and still lose, it's hard to bounce back
The final "NBA on NBC" telecast on June 12, 2002 also marked the end of the "golden age" of the NBA on network television. I would say that the golden age began not when NBC started broadcasting NBA games on November 3, 1990 but when its predecessor, CBS introduced the CGI-generated intro (of Boston Garden and created by Bill Feigenbaum) at the start of the 1983 NBA Finals between the Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Lakers. It also introduced the theme tune that would go on to become the definitive "NBA on CBS" theme, composed by Allyson Bellink. It's sort of fitting that the first NBA Finals that NBC covered involved Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls defeating Magic Johnson's Lakers. The "Showtime" era Lakers along with Larry Bird's Boston Celtics really defined the prime years of the "NBA on CBS" beginning with the 1984 NBA Finals. The Jordan era Bulls of course, defined most of NBC's run with the NBA so it was really a passing of the torch moment.
NBA on NBC intros with the Bob Costas narration, then the John Tesh theme hits! Wow. Even back then, the GOAT discussions were heated! And then in a few years Lebron would arrive...
One of the worst things about NBC losing the NBA rights was that we were going forward, going to be deprived of Bob Costas' intros. Costas just had the innate gift and ability to eloquently make any upcoming matchup sound epic and theatrical. That's simply something that ABC/ESPN has I think, been incapable of capturing once they got ahold of the NBA rights.
Tom Tolbert was already working for NBA on NBC when that happened. Tolbert and Williams were both part of the studio crew at the 2002 All Star Game, I have it on tape. I believe that was Jayson Williams last appearance on TV before the killing.
@@TRJ2241987 Tom Tolbert was originally an analyst with Mike Breen before Jayson Williams killed his limo driver. Tolbert was not part of the studio crew at the 2002 All Star Game.
some great memories. loved watching those laker playoff runs in these years. in 2001 when they went 15-1 was incredible. shame kobe and shaq couldn't squash there bs for more rings
That Lakers team was one of the best teams ever assembled. To this day. The incomparable Kobe Bryant and the legendary Shaquille O’Neal were the most talented one-two punch in the history of the game. Derek Fisher was a solid guard with a knack for clutch shots. You had “Big Shot Bob” Robert Horry at forward. The reliable Rick Fox. And a solid bench backing them up. No team since them has three-peated to this day.
Just watching this in 2015 makes me realize how much the city of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Lakers mean to the NBA. --single most financially important NBA franchise, as per Forbes: US$2.6B --the ONLY NBA franchise to indeed literally have dynasties BEFORE AND AFTER Michael Jordan's reign in the NBA; Showtime, 1980-82-85-87-88. Jordan era: 1991-92-93-96-97-98. Shaq/Kobe: 2000-01-02; --Jerry West is THE NBA logo --First-EVER dynasty in the NBA, even before the Lakers moved to L.A. --Hall of Famers like George Mikan, Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, et al. --The late Dr. Jerry West brought innovations to the NBA --THE first-EVER sports dynasty franchise Los Angeles ever has, at the level the Red Sox own New England, the Yankees own New York, 49ers own San Francisco, Green Bay Packers own Wisconsin, Cowboys own Dallas
I guess that this was a perfect "full circle" moment. The Los Angeles Lakers played in the very first "NBA on NBC" game on November 3, 1990 and they played on the last on June 12, 2002. Also, Phil Jackson was the winning head coach in the first and last NBA Finals to air on NBC (1991 with the Chicago Bulls and 2002 with the Lakers).
It must of been a really frustrating and horrible time to work at NBC Sports here. NBC from the end of the 2002 NBA Finals until the launch of Sunday Night Football in the fall of 2006 really had nothing going for themselves sports-wise. They didn't have the NFL (having last their last NFL broadcast for the time being, being Super Bowl 32 in January 1998), Major League Baseball (having last broadcast MLB in October 2000 with the American League Championship Series between the New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners), and they were about to lose the NBA. So for the next at least 3 and a half years or so, they didn't have any of the four major professional sports in North America on their schedule. They did however land the NHL just prior to the start of Sunday Night Football if I have my facts straight.
Basically all NBC had between 2002 and 2006 was NASCAR (from July on but also Daytona every two years), the Olympics, horse racing's Triple Crown, Notre Dame football, golf's US Open, the French Open and Wimbledon. Heck, their biggest spring sport was Arena Football. Just like with CBS when they had no major pro sports from 1994-1998, the whole network suffered, including primetime. Ratings for NBC were still decent until Frasier and Friends went off the air in 2004, and then they dropped to last place and took a while to get out. The NHL deal was supposed to begin in 2005 but didn't start until 2006 due to the lockout. Getting SNF may have single handedly saved the network. Now they have the NFL, Big Ten college football and basketball, the Premier League, the Indy 500, and are about to have the NBA again. The NHL lasted quite a while on NBC, but with it gone, you could tell they would go after the NBA again whenever possible.
@@samuraibeastwarrior2886 sadly the NBA TV deal isn't up until after the 2024-2025 season. So while I say anything is possible, it will have to wait until at least then.
You have to blame Michael Jordan for having the NBA come off of NBC. He's the reason why it went off to begin with. When Jordan retired in 1998, ratings began to plummet. Tom Tolbert was right, Jordan's Bulls vs Bryant's Lakers would've been a hell of a matchup. Jordan could've just stuck playing with the Bulls after all those years he was absent and could've kept the band together.
Jordan's departure in 1998 wasn't the only reason NBC stopped airing the NBA in 2002. Coverage was starting to slip (see the final season of the NBA on NBC 2001-2002. It will tell you all you need to know.)
+Kim Martin Yes you're right. But honestly in 2003 most people overshadowed the fact it was the year David Robinson retired. Unlike MJ, he ended his career with a ring.
TBH, it was the rights fees that made NBC pass. ESPN can make money thru subscriber fees and can absorb it for ABC. Now ESPN realizes there are lots of cord cutters now and it's not the best plan. It sucks but at least we have the epic theme for NBA on NBC!
+Peter Bautista The Finals in 03 was such a snoozer . Well in the 2000s there were some very bad NBA Finals. Lakers/Nets. Spurs/Nets . Spurs/Cavs . Lakers/Pacers . I know Spurs/Pistons went 7 but it was just so boring to watch. No wonder why the NBA ratings dropped.
Ah yes this was the playoffs with the contraversy during the Kings/Lakers series. Some saying that the Kings got cheated and the refs favored the Lakers.
From a sports perspective, it being what turned out to be NBC's final NBA telecast seemed like (even though the year was 2002) this marked the official end of the '90s culturally. :(
Man you right because once 2003 hit so many things changed culturally. The NBA changed most definitely. The NBA on ABC is straight trash.
Kim Martin i agree. The NBA on TNT is the greatest NBA telecast next to the NBA on NBC. Hopefully the NBA will go back to NBC in 2016. NBC does a great job with broadcasting. idk about the NFL but i happened to glance at the beginning of a NHL on NBC telecast and it brought back memories of the NBA on NBC
Alvin Stuckey Sadly we have to be stuck with BSPN for another 10 years. I would have like that CBS and NBC both having the NBA. NBC could have had The Eastern Conference and CBS could have had The Western Conference . and TNT of course would have Thursday Night games and NBA TV would have games.
Yeah true i guess.
Yeah and that was 40 years ago.
The end of an era not just NBA on NBC but the 90's from a cultural standpoint since the early 2000s still had the 90s vibe till around 2002-03, after that things started to suck.
So in other words, when LeBron came in.
Or when MJ retired
When the Spurs won. Fucking Tim Duncan ruins everything. 😆
Sportscasting wise, I think that Fox getting the NFC package from CBS in 1993-94 was officially, the beginning of the '90s culturally.
A perfect way to go out on the last-ever edition of the NBA on NBC by playing the original intro!
I remember watching this live and knowing what was going on before Bob Costas even brought it up, well before the days of RUclips, this had been the first time I'd seen that intro in a good 10 years. Unbelievable it's now been over 15 years since this game. Sighhhhh
Ending how it began - full circle.
@@calhoun24 It's also a full circle moment for Phil Jackson to win the NBA championship as head coach for NBC's first and last NBA Finals (1991 and 2002). The Los Angeles Lakers were also on the very first NBA on NBC telecast (November 3, 1990) and the very last (June 12, 2002).
They didn’t use this intro at all in 2001 or most of 2002 but brought it back for this game since it would likely be their final NBA game
At 2:56 Bob Costas said "This is the Larry O'Brien trophy, emblematic of the NBA championship." He uttered those exact words before game 5 of the 1991 NBA Finals which was the night of the first championship for the Chicago Bulls.
Great catch! 20 years ago. Hard to believe!
still get goosebumbs watching this in 2019...bring back NBA ON NBC!!!!! BEST NBA ERA EVER
Yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeaaaaahhhh
No sometimes memories are better to be kept as such.. now it’s the nba on tnt that I will miss.
It's already returned in [2025-26] season
I remember watching this in the garage. Rest in peace,NBA on NBC December 1990-June 2002.
Long live the NBA on NBC 🪦
& It's coming back until Fall (2025)
the 2 best things in the 90's are NBA ON NBC AND PRO WRESTLING AKA WWE AND WCW!!!! 90'S BABY FOREVER! !!!!
What is this WWE thing you speak of? It was the WWF in the 90s. Ironically enough, it was about 1 month before this game that they switched over to being WWE because of the World Wildlife Fund lawsuit. Another thing to note in the "2002-03 is when things started sucking" file.
@@DemoSonicScreamer1 exactly 💯. The question is who the hell is the world wildlife fund? I only knew about them because of the the real WWF.
June 12, 2002. Exactly 20 years ago was this broadcast and the final NBA game on NBC.
I fucking miss how NBA on NBA gave each series, hell each game a narrative, it made the games feel more immersive and purposeful, it has the dramatic element like a TV show. Im gonna wait for NBA on NBC to return in 2025, I'll wait.
Really? NBA is coming back to NBC?
@@Ezekiel144k contract with ABC ends 2025
2:19: “This Is The NBA on NBC"👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿
NBA on NBC is coming back fall 2025
The NBA on NBC...Great memories from my childhood and even with owning the games on DVD (Original Broadcasts, btw), I still get pumped to the theme song
The Lakers were apart of NBC's 1st telecast in 1990-91 its fitting they close their telecasts with the Lakers
Coming fall 2025, the NBA on NBC returns. I'm beyond happy that a part of my childhood will be coming back with the NBA on NBC back in business. No NBA finals for NBC this time unfortunately,, but NBC's part of the new deal is still pretty impressive. NBC got the B package, basically what TNT had but with a little extra like the WNBA making their return to NBC as well and USA men's and women's basketball. Welcome back NBA on NBC.
Hmm... it's like the NBA on NBC anticipated this game as its final broadcast so they used the opening from their first season (1990-1991) to close the circle.
GameboyTV - Mark Joseph great fucking point!!
Didn’t think of it like that before
GameboyTV - Mark Joseph
NBC knew it was the final broadcast. ESPN/ABC already won the rights a couple months before this.
Faisal Amalo well I think his point was there could have been more games in the series, but of course we all knew as NBC did that the Lakers were not going to lose
I think NBC basically made that call following game 3. 3-0 is different from 2-1 and the Nets threw everything including the kitchen sink in game 3. New Jersey did everything they could in game 3 and it wasn't enough. When you throw your best Sunday punch and still lose, it's hard to bounce back
Childhood memories man I still remember watching that Lakers team run though the NBA for 3 years and win championships my favorite Lakers team ever
R.I.P Kobe
RIP legend
Kobe was not Kidd-ing by wearing that MJ Jersey to Game 4. #ColdBlooded
I know nbc can’t compete with espn and tnt for nba today but how great would it be to have nbc rejoin the action with this theme again.
This wouldn’t make the nba better. It’s proven by ratings that the nba was in its prime during the 90’s and early 2000’s
The final "NBA on NBC" telecast on June 12, 2002 also marked the end of the "golden age" of the NBA on network television. I would say that the golden age began not when NBC started broadcasting NBA games on November 3, 1990 but when its predecessor, CBS introduced the CGI-generated intro (of Boston Garden and created by Bill Feigenbaum) at the start of the 1983 NBA Finals between the Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Lakers. It also introduced the theme tune that would go on to become the definitive "NBA on CBS" theme, composed by Allyson Bellink.
It's sort of fitting that the first NBA Finals that NBC covered involved Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls defeating Magic Johnson's Lakers. The "Showtime" era Lakers along with Larry Bird's Boston Celtics really defined the prime years of the "NBA on CBS" beginning with the 1984 NBA Finals. The Jordan era Bulls of course, defined most of NBC's run with the NBA so it was really a passing of the torch moment.
NBA on NBC intros with the Bob Costas narration, then the John Tesh theme hits! Wow.
Even back then, the GOAT discussions were heated! And then in a few years Lebron would arrive...
One of the worst things about NBC losing the NBA rights was that we were going forward, going to be deprived of Bob Costas' intros. Costas just had the innate gift and ability to eloquently make any upcoming matchup sound epic and theatrical. That's simply something that ABC/ESPN has I think, been incapable of capturing once they got ahold of the NBA rights.
I loved Tom Tolbert as a studio analyst for the NBA on NBC. He was a major upgrade from Jayson Williams.
Tom Tolbert was already working for NBA on NBC when that happened. Tolbert and Williams were both part of the studio crew at the 2002 All Star Game, I have it on tape. I believe that was Jayson Williams last appearance on TV before the killing.
@@TRJ2241987 Tom Tolbert was originally an analyst with Mike Breen before Jayson Williams killed his limo driver. Tolbert was not part of the studio crew at the 2002 All Star Game.
some great memories. loved watching those laker playoff runs in these years. in 2001 when they went 15-1 was incredible. shame kobe and shaq couldn't squash there bs for more rings
That Lakers team was one of the best teams ever assembled. To this day.
The incomparable Kobe Bryant and the legendary Shaquille O’Neal were the most talented one-two punch in the history of the game. Derek Fisher was a solid guard with a knack for clutch shots. You had “Big Shot Bob” Robert Horry at forward. The reliable Rick Fox.
And a solid bench backing them up.
No team since them has three-peated to this day.
Golden Era of the NBA!!!
the end of the nba on nbc and the end of the shaq & kobe era
And 23 years later...welcome home.
Just watching this in 2015 makes me realize how much the city of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Lakers mean to the NBA.
--single most financially important NBA franchise, as per Forbes: US$2.6B
--the ONLY NBA franchise to indeed literally have dynasties BEFORE AND AFTER Michael Jordan's reign in the NBA; Showtime, 1980-82-85-87-88. Jordan era: 1991-92-93-96-97-98. Shaq/Kobe: 2000-01-02;
--Jerry West is THE NBA logo
--First-EVER dynasty in the NBA, even before the Lakers moved to L.A.
--Hall of Famers like George Mikan, Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, et al.
--The late Dr. Jerry West brought innovations to the NBA
--THE first-EVER sports dynasty franchise Los Angeles ever has, at the level the Red Sox own New England, the Yankees own New York, 49ers own San Francisco, Green Bay Packers own Wisconsin, Cowboys own Dallas
***** nba on nbc was phil jackson era 9 championships
+B4ULoveShine Knicks are now more valuable with $3 Billion
Gameshowboy 92 I know; I did write that post, back in 2015.
Thanks for the update.
bigblue999 The Knicks need to get it together though. It's been 15 years of horrible Basketball in the Big Apple.
Jerry west is still alive
I miss Nba on Nbc..The intros were always great..And of course the Lakers Rule..Purp N Gold 4life
Rip Kobe
@ 1:34 I think the nbc have sensed something
The last ever NBA on NBC
I guess that this was a perfect "full circle" moment. The Los Angeles Lakers played in the very first "NBA on NBC" game on November 3, 1990 and they played on the last on June 12, 2002. Also, Phil Jackson was the winning head coach in the first and last NBA Finals to air on NBC (1991 with the Chicago Bulls and 2002 with the Lakers).
It must of been a really frustrating and horrible time to work at NBC Sports here. NBC from the end of the 2002 NBA Finals until the launch of Sunday Night Football in the fall of 2006 really had nothing going for themselves sports-wise. They didn't have the NFL (having last their last NFL broadcast for the time being, being Super Bowl 32 in January 1998), Major League Baseball (having last broadcast MLB in October 2000 with the American League Championship Series between the New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners), and they were about to lose the NBA. So for the next at least 3 and a half years or so, they didn't have any of the four major professional sports in North America on their schedule. They did however land the NHL just prior to the start of Sunday Night Football if I have my facts straight.
Basically all NBC had between 2002 and 2006 was NASCAR (from July on but also Daytona every two years), the Olympics, horse racing's Triple Crown, Notre Dame football, golf's US Open, the French Open and Wimbledon. Heck, their biggest spring sport was Arena Football. Just like with CBS when they had no major pro sports from 1994-1998, the whole network suffered, including primetime. Ratings for NBC were still decent until Frasier and Friends went off the air in 2004, and then they dropped to last place and took a while to get out. The NHL deal was supposed to begin in 2005 but didn't start until 2006 due to the lockout. Getting SNF may have single handedly saved the network. Now they have the NFL, Big Ten college football and basketball, the Premier League, the Indy 500, and are about to have the NBA again. The NHL lasted quite a while on NBC, but with it gone, you could tell they would go after the NBA again whenever possible.
barely a mention of the opponent, goes to show how good the lakers were and how bad the eastern conference was
Bob Costas in the opening all but came short of saying to the New Jersey Nets "You have no chance of winning dude!"
Here after it’s rumored that NBC is going hard to get the NBA back
very last one
Hopefully some day the NBA will be back on NBC before LeBron retires
Not gonna happen. Sorry.
@@musicman76enatorWell looks like you're wrong. The NBA is coming back on NBC after all. You must feeling be stupid now
We're officially back baby!!! See y'all back in [2025 - 26] season of Fall on NBC.
Chills
It’s nba on nbc day
Bring back the roundball rock!
Fox now uses it for college basketball.
@@tribefan879 The NHL is back on ESPN can The NBA get back on NBC ?
@@samuraibeastwarrior2886 anything is possible.
@@tribefan879 I hope this fall we get THE NBA ON NBC back
@@samuraibeastwarrior2886 sadly the NBA TV deal isn't up until after the 2024-2025 season. So while I say anything is possible, it will have to wait until at least then.
Despite having Kobe Lebron Wade and Steph ESPN simply failed to match this energy. Hopefully they just give it back to NBC at end of this TV deal
Imagine if LA kept both of em omg..
The last NBA on NBC game.
Until 2025?
You have to blame Michael Jordan for having the NBA come off of NBC. He's the reason why it went off to begin with. When Jordan retired in 1998, ratings began to plummet. Tom Tolbert was right, Jordan's Bulls vs Bryant's Lakers would've been a hell of a matchup. Jordan could've just stuck playing with the Bulls after all those years he was absent and could've kept the band together.
Jordan's departure in 1998 wasn't the only reason NBC stopped airing the NBA in 2002. Coverage was starting to slip (see the final season of the NBA on NBC 2001-2002. It will tell you all you need to know.)
+Kim Martin Yes you're right. But honestly in 2003 most people overshadowed the fact it was the year David Robinson retired. Unlike MJ, he ended his career with a ring.
+Kim Martin True, but now that you mention 2003. It happened to be one of the crappiest years of my life.
TBH, it was the rights fees that made NBC pass. ESPN can make money thru subscriber fees and can absorb it for ABC. Now ESPN realizes there are lots of cord cutters now and it's not the best plan. It sucks but at least we have the epic theme for NBA on NBC!
+Peter Bautista The Finals in 03 was such a snoozer . Well in the 2000s there were some very bad NBA Finals. Lakers/Nets. Spurs/Nets . Spurs/Cavs . Lakers/Pacers . I know Spurs/Pistons went 7 but it was just so boring to watch. No wonder why the NBA ratings dropped.
Pound it inside is wild 😂😂😂😂
Kings should've been there! Stern wouldn't have Kings Vs. Nets in the Finals. I knew it then and it has become more prevalent as time goes on.
But he'd have the SPURS vs the Nets in the Finals the very next year??? Are you a fucking idiot?
But they lost too the lakers fair you buuthurt butch
the final game of nba basketball in history...basketball died after this game.
Say it again bob costas
I'm the 100th comment!
2:21
and the s.a. spurs put an end to that shit of a dynasty!
Ah yes this was the playoffs with the contraversy during the Kings/Lakers series. Some saying that the Kings got cheated and the refs favored the Lakers.