Arizona Wildcats Top 5 NBA Playoff Moments
By Brad Malone
The NBA Finals are upon us. Here is a list of our top 5 Arizona Wildcats NBA Playoff moments.
What is your favorite Arizona Wildcats NBA Playoff moment? Here is our top five countdown, re-live each moment our former Wildcats made history.
5. Mike Bibby won a national title at Arizona in 1997. In 2002 he was trying to add an NBA title to his resume, while playing for the Sacramento Kings. In Game Five of the Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers,
Bibby was the hero, when he knocked down a mid range jumper with little time remaining. That shot put the Kings up 3-2 in the series. Unfortunately for Bibby, the Lakers prevailed in seven games, in one of the most exciting and yet controversial Western Conference Finals in NBA history.
4. Gilbert Arenas was a diamond in the rough when he was recruited to Arizona. In the NBA, Arenas proved he was better than his second round selection indicated. During his time with the Washington Wizards, he was one of the most dynamic players in the NBA. Injuries and off court issues hurt Arenas in the long run, but in 2005 he was an NBA playoff hero.
In the first round of the playoffs that year, Arenas made the Chicago Bulls pay. In game five ‘Agent Zero’ hit a 16-foot fadeaway at the buzzer to win the game. Arenas led the franchise to their first playoff series victory in 23 years when the Wizards eventually won in six games
3. Jason Terry is all time fan favorite at Arizona. He is also one of the most beloved Dallas Mavericks of all time because like at Arizona he was fun to watch in uniform and helped take a team to new heights hometown fans had never seen. In 2011 the newly formed Miami Heat met the Mavericks in the NBA Finals. Early in the series J.T. struggled in the fourth quarter.
With the series tied 2-2 J.T. had a chance to put the final nail in the coffin for game 5. Leading by four with under 40 seconds left J.T. launched a beautiful three point shot over the outreached hand of LeBron James. That made shot ended the Heat’s chances in game 5 and the Mavs would win their first NBA title a few days later in Miami.
2. Sean Elliott is the best player in Arizona history. Elliott was a two time NBA All Star while playing for the San Antonio Spurs but he is probably known best to NBA fans for what he did on Memorial Day in 1999. In game two of the Western Conference Finals the Spurs trailed the Portland Trail Blazers all game.
Trailing by two and with little time remaining Elliott received an inbounds pass, turned around and launched a three over Rasheed Wallace. The most incredible thing about all this is when Elliott let the ball fly he was on his tip toes trying not to step out of bounds. Somehow he stayed in bounds and the shot went down. One cool thing about the play is that there were three Arizona Wildcats on the court when Elliott made the shot. Steve Kerr also played for San Antonio at the time and former Arizona assistant coach Damon Stoudamire was on the Trail Blazers. The Spurs would win the game and the series. They ended up defeating the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals. Elliott and Kerr happily won a championship together, after falling short 11 years earlier while playing for the Wildcats.
1. In 1997 Steve Kerr and company added to the great year the Arizona Wildcats had. In a series clinching win against the Utah Jazz in the NBA Finals, Kerr was asked to come up big. With under 30 seconds left and the game tied, everyone knew where the ball was going.
In the final seconds Michael Jordan drew a double team, leaving one of the greatest shooters in NBA history wide open. #23 passed the ball to Arizona’s golden boy. Kerr took a 17-footer that Chicagoans are still talking about. Thanks to Kerr’s heroics, the Bulls clinched another title. Former Arizona players Kerr, Jud Buechler, and Bison Dele(Brian Williams) celebrated together as Bulls teammates, for Chicago’s fifth NBA title.
Bear Down!