[The blog continues to reprise items from the once-popular print series titled The Game I’ll Never Forget. The format is simple. Select a pro player, and ask him to recount his most-memorable game. The heavily-edited responses vary wildly in quality—some good, some bad—and that’s why I don’t overdo them on the blog. Up next is a pretty good one, though, from the legendary Bill Sharman. His choice was published in the February 1978 issue of Basketball Digest. Enjoy!]
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To pick one game, one moment, one time, one event as the most memorable in my long association with professional basketball—more than 25 years—was a most painstaking and difficult choice.
Since my National Basketball Association career began way back in 1949 with the old Washington Capitals, and I have been a participant in thousands of games (either as a player, coach, or executive), I had a wide selection for The Game I’ll Never Forget.
During that span, I played on for world championship teams with the Boston Celtics and five division winners. Winning that first league title with the Celtics was a great thrill. And what a final game it was in the playoffs. We had to go two overtimes to beat the St. Louis Hawks, 125-123, in the seventh and deciding championship playoff game of the 1956-57 season, the year the Celtics began their dynasty.
Another great moment was the 1955 All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden in New York, after I had scored 15 points in only 18 minutes and helped the East to 100-91 victory over the West, I was named the game’s Most Valuable Player.
Being named to the National Basketball Hall of Fame in February 1976 was another memorable occasion for me. Playing in the same backcourt with Bob Cousy, perhaps the greatest playmaker in the game’s history, also stands out in my mind. We were the only backcourt combination ever to be chosen to the NBA All-Star team as a tandem, and that happened four consecutive seasons.
In addition, I coached the Cleveland Pipers to the American Basketball League title in 1962 and the Utah Stars to the American Basketball Association championship in 1971. Furthermore, I coached the San Francisco Warriors of the NBA from 1966-68, and we went to the final round of the playoffs the first season before losing to Philadelphia. We reached the semifinals the second year before being eliminated by Los Angeles.
But for The Game I’ll Never Forget, I have to look back to the 1971-72 NBA season, when I coached the Los Angeles Lakers. That was the year we set the American professional sports record by winning 33 consecutive games. From the first week in November 1971 until the first week in January 1972, no one could beat us until the Milwaukee Bucks, led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson, finally stopped our winning streak.
Still, we went on to set the NBA record of 69 victories (against only 13 losses) that season and headed into the playoffs as prohibitive favorites to bring the first championship to Los Angeles since the franchise was moved from Minneapolis in 1960.
We breezed through the first round, beating Chicago in four straight games. And that put us into the semifinals against our old rivals, the Bucks. Milwaukee was the defending champion, having won the 1970-71 title with a four-game final sweep over Baltimore. And in the 1971-72 season, the Bucks weren’t far behind us in victories with 63, the second-highest total in the league.
It was a classic matchup. They had Kareem and Oscar; we had Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West to match them. But in the first game, the series looked more like a mismatch than anything. They killed us, 93-72. It was embarrassing. Still, it was only one game, and we knew that by beating them in game two, we would even the series and have a good shot at winning everything.
But we had to win THAT game. Another loss at home, and we probably would be finished, especially with the next two games scheduled for Milwaukee.
A capacity crowd of 17,505 filled our Forum in Inglewood California, and it was one of the few times a game was a sellout on paid television at the theaters in town. We probably could have sold another 50,000 or 60,000 tickets for seats in the arena if we had them for that game—and the other games in the series.
We really came out smoking, especially Jim McMillian, because we knew we had to win. Jimmy was determined to make up for his poor showing in the first game, when he shot only 3 for 20. But Milwaukee was just as hot, and the Bucks led 38-37 after a freewheeling first period.
But Jimmy kept firing away—with accuracy this time—as did Jerry West and Gail Goodrich, and by halftime, we led 72-66. That’s right, our total score for the first two periods had matched our entire output in the first game, and McMillan already had 17 points.
We continued to play well in the third quarter, building our lead to 106-96. But by the middle of the final period, our advantage had disintegrated, and the score was tied, 117-117. Milwaukee was getting a lot of scoring from Kareem, Lucius Allen, Curtis Perry, and Jon McGlocklin. For us, McMillan, West, and Goodrich were carrying the scoring load, and Wilt was sweeping the boards.
For the next 5 ½ minutes, we virtually traded points with the Bucks. Then, with six seconds to go, Happy Hairston took a pass from West—Jerry’s 13thassist in the game—and hit a field goal, giving us a 135-132 lead.
But those final six seconds almost turned into a nightmare for us. As quickly as possible, the Bucks came back. Kareem banked in a hook shot, giving him 40 points for the game and reducing our lead to one point.
It was then that the game—and the whole season—turned in our favor. With West dribbling the ball and trying to kill the remaining seconds on the clock, he was double-teamed by Oscar and Kareem. The two combined to pry the ball away from Jerry. Kareem grabbed it, and immediately appeared to have a clear field toward the basket for what would have been the game-winning shot.
But just as he turned to dribble, the ball hit the leg of an official, bounced back to West, and Jerry nearly hugged it as the final buzzer sounded. The crowd went wild. Boy, were we lucky. Something like that—an official getting in the way—happens about once in 10,000 plays or more. What a fantastic game—and what a pleasant ending. If we lost, I think that would have wiped out everything we had accomplished that season—the record 33 game winning streak, and the record 69 victories overall. Our records would have looked like flukes, because if we would have gone to Milwaukee trailing 2-0. I don’t think there’s any way we would have had a chance to win the series.
As it was, we were even, 1-1, and had renewed confidence. A victory like that will do wonders for a team. Still riding high, we went to Milwaukee and beat the Bucks again, 108-105. They whipped us, 114-88, in the fourth game. But we won the next two games, 115-90, at Los Angeles and, 104-100, in Milwaukee, clinching the series.
We then went on and beat the New York Knicks in five games for the championship. But I don’t think there’s any way we could have won the title—or even gotten into the final round—if we had not defeated the Bucks in that second game. The last few seconds of that game were among the most unusual and dramatic I have ever seen in my many years in professional basketball. That’s why I consider it The Game I’ll Never Forget.
[Here’s how the Los Angeles Times captured game two. I’ve mixed in telling quotes from the Long Beach Independent, the San Bernadino County Sun, and a wire service report to round out the next-day coverage. As you’ll see, Sharman’s remembered sequence of events— especially the timing of Hairston’s layup and West hugging the ball to run out the clock— don’t quite jibe with the newspaper accounts. Still, game two clearly was exciting.]
In a game that was in direct contrast to Sunday’s poor shooting, low-scoring affair, the Lakers held on to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks, 135-134, Wednesday night at the Forum to square the NBA semifinal playoff series at a game apiece. It was a thrilling encounter that had a little bit of everything, including the career scoring high of 42 points for forward Jim McMillian, who was only 3-for-20 in the opening game.
And, the Bucks were sullen and disturbed afterwards, claiming that the officials had something to do with the outcome. Milwaukee coach Larry Costello was upset over two plays in the closing seconds. The Lakers were trying to protect a 133-132 lead when Jerry West lost the ball.
But, instead of going out of bounds, the ball hit official Manny Sokol in the stomach and stayed on the court.
West retrieved it under pressure and then fired a pass to Happy Hairston, who drove for the clinching basket at 135-132 with only six seconds remaining. “It’s unfortunate that an official (Sokol) is involved in a play that might have a bearing on the outcome of the series,” said Costello.
Robertson agreed that West would have lost the ball out of bounds had it not struck Sokol. “Was he in good position . . . where do you think he should have been?” Oscar said, asking as many questions as the reporters around him. “They talk a lot about honest judgment, but I’m glad this game is on tape,” he added, echoing Costello’s sentiments.
After Hairston scored, Costello ran onto the court and made a traveling gesture to the officials. “He took two steps along the baseline before he scored,” Costello claimed later.
It was an exceptionally well-played game, and the Bucks, who trailed throughout most of the second half, threatened in the fleeting minutes to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the series . . . But the Lakers repulsed every challenge from a team that shot a sizzling 61.3 percent—a figure that usually ensures victory . . .
Milwaukee assumed its first lead since the second quarter at 119-117 on Jon McGlocklin’s steal and layup with 5:25 to go, and this was expanded to 124-121 a minute later. But McMillian and West brought the Lakers back with jump shots before Abdul-Jabbar countered for the last Buck lead at 126-125.
Hairston’s layup regained the lead for the Lakers at 127-126, and it was touch and go the rest of the way. With the Lakers leading, 131-130, McGlocklin, who was accurate on nearly everything he threw up, missed a jumper with 44 seconds to play. Wilt Chamberlain controlled the rebound, and the Lakers called a timeout eight seconds later.
When play resumed, West, who had made only 4 of 16 shots in the second half, then clicked on a 21-foot jumper with 27 seconds left. But Abdul-Jabbar then whirled in a hook, setting the stage for the drama in the fleeting seconds—the ball that hit Sokol and Hairston’s disputed layup.“ I thought Happy Hairston traveled on the play, and we should have got the ball out of bounds,” complained Costello. “But it was a judgment call, and we can’t protest that. It did seem that crucial calls that could have been a difference in the game went against us.”
As for the other controversial play at the conclusion of the game, let’s set the scene: jerry West took the ball across midcourt for the Lakers and was suddenly double-teamed. West, trying to evade the defenders, lost control of the ball. The ball apparently was headed back across the midcourt, which would have been a violation, giving the Bucks the ball.
But Sokol, who was trailing the play, had the ball hit his leg before it hit the midline, and West recovered in time. West said: “I don’t know who deflected the ball out of my hands.” As it was, he almost lost the ball again when Abdul-Jabbar punched the ball out of his grasp. Jerry retrieved it in the backcourt, and then found Hairston.
“I thought it was a tremendous ballgame,” said Laker coach, Bill Sharman, who could barely talk. “I thought it was our most important and significant win of the season. This has to give us a lot of confidence to beat a team that played as well as Milwaukee did.”
From Way Downtown 