NBA History Conversations: Basketball Record

Adam & Aaron celebrate the 30th anniversary of Michael Jordan's fourth season in the National Basketball Association. This episode covers:

- November 7 through November 20, 1987

- Insightful minutiae, all but lost to the annals of basketball history

Notable:

- Larry Bird opens the season with an amazing performance at Washington

- Artis Gilmore returns to Chicago (last played for the Bulls in 1982 season)

- Chicago wins its 500th game in franchise history

- Darren's day(e). Bird-less Celtics, down 28, beat Knicks at the buzzer

- The Chicago Bulls' home-sellout streak commenced

Links discussed:

* Philadelphia 76ers @ Chicago Bulls (season-opener)

* Bird's buzzer-beater buries Bullets

* Reggie Miller, Chuck Person pace Indiana

This episode continues our coverage of the 1987-88 NBA season. If you enjoy the content, please share it with your friends! For context, here’s our 13-episode series (#NB87), exploring Michael Jordan’s third season in the NBA.

Tune in to hear this and plenty more, as we uncover some hidden gems from the NBA’s golden era.

People mentioned include Maurice Cheeks, Rory Sparrow, Dallas Comegys, Jawann Oldham, Mark Eaton, Darren Daye, Dennis Johnson, Doc Rivers, Terry Porter and Bob Ryan.

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Adam & Aaron celebrate the 30th anniversary of Michael Jordan's fourth season in the National Basketball Association. This episode covers:

- 1987 NBA Hall of Fame Game - Bulls versus Lakers

- The origin story of Michael Jordan's 'Come Fly with Me' dunk

- Insightful minutiae, all but lost to the annals of basketball history

Links discussed:

* Chicago Bulls v L.A. Lakers – Hall of Fame Game (87-88 preseason)

* 1988 Bulls Luncheon – Jordan, Pippen & Oakley All-Star presser

This episode continues our coverage of the 1987-88 NBA season. If you enjoy the content, please share it with your friends! For context, here’s our 13-episode series (#NB87), exploring Michael Jordan’s third season in the NBA.

Tune in to hear this and plenty more, as we uncover some hidden gems from the NBA’s golden era.

People mentioned include Doug Collins, Michael Jordan, James Worthy, Dave Corzine, Mike Smrek, Scott(tie) Pippen, Horace Grant, Tony White, A.C. Green, Charles Oakley and Jeff Lamp.

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Adam & Aaron celebrate the 30th anniversary of Michael Jordan's fourth season in the National Basketball Association. This episode covers:

- Off-season news, notes and quotes

- 1987 NBA Draft

- Chicago Bulls 1987-88 training camp and preseason games

- Insightful minutiae, all but lost to the annals of basketball history

We’re back with a new series (#NB88). Following a brief visit to April of 1987, we head to early-to-mid June, discussing a wide array of interesting topics and happenings from the NBA’s off-season.

We cover the 1987 NBA Draft and the Bulls’ draft-day dealings that secured Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant – foundation players who would team with Michael Jordan and John Paxson to form the nucleus of the franchise’s future success.

We’re also joined by special guest, Joyce Szymanski, who was in the unique position of working (media relations) for the Seattle SuperSonics on 1987 NBA Draft day. Shortly after, she began work with the Chicago Bulls. Joyce shares her 1987 memories.

We recap Chicago’s 1987-88 preseason games. The results were mixed. Michael Jordan was his dependable self, however, the team was still looking to mesh individual talent into a cohesive unit.

To round out the episode, we talk about the Bulls’ efforts to put forth a competitive and cohesive team, on the eve of the regular season.

This episode begins our coverage of the 1987-88 NBA season. If you enjoy the content, please share it with your friends! For context, here’s our 13-episode series (#NB87), exploring Michael Jordan’s third season in the NBA.

Tune in to hear this and plenty more, as we uncover some hidden gems from the NBA’s golden era.

People mentioned include Doug Collins, Gene Banks, Karl Malone, Rickie Winslow, Tony White, Dave Corzine, Carey Scurry, Bill Russell, Dennis Hopson, David Robinson and Manute Bol.

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Adam & Aaron celebrate the 30th anniversary of Michael Jordan's third season in the National Basketball Association. This episode covers:

- Playoffs through 1987 NBA Finals (April 23 through June 14)

- Insightful minutiae, all but lost to the annals of basketball history

The ultimate episode of #NB87. Notable milestones:

- Magic Johnson - named Most Valuable Player / Finals MVP

- Chuck Person - named Rookie of the Year

- Ricky Pierce - named Sixth Man of the Year

- Michael Cooper - named Defensive Player of the Year

- Dale Ellis - named Most Improved Player

- Mike Schuler - named Coach of the Year

Links discussed:

* Magic Johnson's 77'8" buzzer-beater (WCQF G1)

* Warriors @ Jazz - mayhem erupts as game ends (WCQF G2)

* Sleepy wakes Warriors, drops 51 points on Lakers (WCSF G4)

* Laimbeer clips Bird's wings (ECF G3)

* Larry Legend steals victory from the jaws of defeat (ECF G5)

* Kill Bill (Laimbeer)? Parish the thought (ECF G5)

* Doubting Thomas? Isiah on his Larry Bird comments (Finals G2)

* Magic's "Junior, Junior Sky Hook" (Finals G4)

Tune in to hear this and plenty more, as we uncover some hidden gems from the NBA’s golden era.

People mentioned include Charles Oakley, Isiah Thomas, Akeem Olajuwon, Julius Erving, Robert Parish, Karl Malone, Bill Laimbeer, Kevin McHale, Doug Collins, Xavier McDaniel and Bob Ryan.

This episode concludes our coverage of the 1986-87 NBA season. Thanks for taking the time to listen to the series. If you enjoyed the content, please share it with your friends!

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Adam and Aaron celebrate the 30th anniversary of Michael Jordan's third season in the National Basketball Association. This episode covers:

- NBA regular season – March 31 through April 19, 1987

- Insightful minutiae, all but lost to the annals of basketball history

Notable milestones:

- Trent Tucker - career-high 34 points

-John Salley - career-high 28 points

- Kenny Walker - career-high 26 points

- John Paxson - career-high 14 assists

- Nick Vanos - career-high 13 rebounds

Links discussed:

* Jordan throws down some classic dunks versus the Bullets

* Phoenix Suns tribute - honoring Nick Vanos

* MJ ties his season-high scoring mark of 61 points

This episode continues our coverage of the 1986-87 NBA season. We encourage your interaction. Feel free to suggest specific games, moments and events from within the season, for us to cover in future episodes of the series. Thanks for taking the time to listen to the show. If you enjoy the content, please share it with your friends!

Tune in to hear this and plenty more, as we uncover some hidden gems from the NBA’s golden era.

People mentioned include Julius Erving, Brad Sellers, Bernard King, Magic Johnson, Kenny Carr, Ennis Whatley, Press Maravich, Sedale Threatt, Rod Thorn and Moses Malone.

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(Former) Senior Vice President and Executive Producer of NBA Entertainment, Don Sperling.

Don Sperling has a remarkable filmography that you’re almost certainly familiar with. Titles including Michael Jordan: Come Fly with Me, NBA Awesome Endings, Michael Jordan’s Playground, NBA Superstars and Michael Jordan: Air Time, are just a handful of his iconic releases.

Sperling was Senior Vice President and Executive Producer of NBA Entertainment, NBA TV and NBA.com for 15 years. Don discusses his early life, the opportunities that presented themselves and how he moved from his native New York, to Atlanta, prior to being contacted by soon-to-be NBA Commissioner, David Stern, regarding the establishment of NBA Entertainment. Don discusses its formation and amazing growth, plus, offers fascinating specifics on some iconic moments from Come Fly with Me. He recounts some amazing stories about travelling with The Dream Team in 1992, particularly, a wonderful 48-hour span he’ll never forget - chronicling Michael Jordan - that featured in Air Time’s release.

Don also talks about two of the NBA’s greatest promotional campaigns – ‘America’s Game – it’s fantastic’ and ‘I Love this Game’. We also discuss the origins of NBA Inside Stuff and NBA Action, plus, how the famous ‘Bad Boys’ moniker originated. Due to the breadth of Don’s tenure with the NBA, he’s agreed to join us for a second conversation at a future date. I’m already looking forward to that.

Links discussed:
* Come Fly with Me: “…the biggest-selling, sports home-video of all-time”
* Michael Jordan – Air Time
* ‘America’s Game – it’s FANtastic’
* ‘I Love this Game’

People mentioned include Bill Bradley, Charles Barkley, Dave DeBusschere, Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Larry Bird, Drazen Petrovic, Vlade Divac, Earl Monroe, Magic Johnson, Luc Longley, Phil Jackson, Rod Thorn and Dick Barnett.

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This episode covers:

- 'Full Court with Michael Jordan'. A charity game with a backstory almost as fantastic as MJ's performance [Sep 14, 1985]

Behind the Game. Learn how Normal, IL, was anything but, on a mid-September night in 1985. MJ entertained 6,000 lucky fans.

Others mentioned in this episode, include: Stan Albeck, Jim Barnhart, Mike Justin, Rick Cooper, C.L. Strickland and Reggie Redbird.

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Adam & Aaron celebrate the 30th anniversary of Michael Jordan's third season in the National Basketball Association. This episode covers:

- NBA regular season – March 16 through 30, 1987

- Insightful minutiae, all but lost to the annals of basketball history

Notable milestones:

- Jeff Malone - career-high 48 points

- Darrell Walker - career-high 39 points

- David Wingate - career-high 28 points

Links discussed:

* MJ delivers a classic leaner, Bulls dominate Clippers

* Johnny ‘Red’ Kerr‘s tribute to Julius Erving

This episode continues our coverage of the 1986-87 NBA season. We encourage your interaction. Feel free to suggest specific games, moments and events from within the season, for us to cover in future episodes of the series. Thanks for taking the time to listen to the show. If you enjoy the content, please share it with your friends!

Tune in to hear this and plenty more, as we uncover some hidden gems from the NBA’s golden era.

Others mentioned in this episode, include: Charles Oakley, Magic Johnson, Tree Rollins, Doug Collins, Gene Banks, Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, Lancaster Gordon and Bill Martin.

Send Adam a text message or voicemail.

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Chicago sports-radio pioneer and broadcasting veteran, Cheryl Raye-Stout.

As a young girl, Cheryl was taught the nuances of baseball, by her maternal grandfather. That helped foster her love of sports and set the path for what would be - and still is - a pioneering career in Chicago sports radio.

Cheryl talks about the state of the Chicago Bulls, pre-Michael Jordan. We discuss her recollection of when she first heard Jordan's name. This was well before Michael arrived in Chicago. Cheryl, and the city-at-large, were eager followers of college basketball. We chat about Jordan's immediate impact on the Bulls, plus, Cheryl details memories of his (1980s) teammates, Dave Corzine and Charles Oakley.

We chat about the highs of WMAQ (AM-670) obtaining the rights to broadcast Chicago Bulls games on radio, coupled with the lows the station would soon experience, after recently-minted Rookie of the Year, Michael Jordan, broke his foot on October 29, 1985.

It may surprise some people, however, Michael Jordan was perhaps the NBA's most-accessible star in the 1980s and (early) 1990s. Cheryl talks about the access she had to arguably, the game's most-electrifying performer - including night sessions at Bulls' training camp, when nary a reporter was in sight. We talk about the Bulls' incredible run of six titles in eight years and some of Cheryl's fondest memories from those championship runs.

Cheryl recounts the biggest news stories she broke in the 1990s. Both, not surprisingly, involved Michael Jeffrey Jordan. The first, Michael's decision to play baseball. Second, Jordan's return to the NBA ("I'm back"). The behind-the-scenes details of how Cheryl uncovered the stories are nothing short of fascinating.

Learn more about all of the above, discover the story behind a unique Michael Jordan autograph Cheryl received, plus, hear a couple of classic Dennis Rodman anecdotes. If you love NBA history, this is a conversation you will not want to miss.

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'Mr. Basketball', Michigan State star, NBA Champion and Global Coach, Sam Vincent.

As a youngster, Sam Vincent witnessed intense cross-town high-school basketball battles between his older brother, Jay, and Magic Johnson. A few years later, Jay and Earvin joined forces at Michigan State University, winning the 1979 National Championship against Larry Bird - Sam's future teammate in the NBA.

Sam led Eastern High School to the 1980 State Championship. He was named Michigan's first 'Mr. Basketball'. Following in the footsteps of Jay and Magic, Sam attended Michigan State and was a four-year standout with the Spartans. He played in the 1981 McDonald's High School All-American game against Michael Jordan.

As a rookie, Sam was a member of the 1986 Boston Celtics - arguably, the greatest team of all-time. We discuss his memories of that season and some of the practice battles at Hellenic College.

Prior to the 1988 season, Sam was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics, where he played 43 games. As the trade deadline neared, the Sonics dealt Sam to the Chicago Bulls - where he'd reunite with Michael Jordan - and his on-court production increased significantly. We talk about some of his fondest off-court memories from that time, plus some great games he played in as a member of the Bulls.

In mid-June of 1989, the Orlando Magic selected Sam in the NBA Expansion Draft. He was an original member of the franchise and played with the team for three seasons. Injury led to Sam's exit from the NBA after the 1992 season. He played for a season in Europe, before embarking on a post-playing career - overseas and within the USA - that is as varied as it is impressive.

Sam details his extensive travels and successes as a Global Coach. The breadth of his accomplishments is remarkable. Among many achievements, Sam has coached national teams in South Africa and Nigeria. He guided the Mobile Revelers to the 2003 NBA D-League Championship. In 2004, he coached the Nigerian women's team in the Olympics Games. In 2007, Sam was an assistant coach with the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, before getting a call from Michael Jordan to coach the Charlotte Bobcats.

Sam talks about his most-recent coaching experiences, clears up misconceptions stemming from his exit as Charlotte coach and discusses his love for promoting the game of basketball globally.

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