Do you realize that it’s been 25 years since the Lakers won the first leg of their three-peat with Kobe and Shaq? It feels like that wasn’t that long ago, but indeed a lot has happened in the NBA since that time, and in honor of this quarter-century mile marker, we’ve been hot on the content trail. Check it all out below.
And now, we bring to you the 25 most iconic shots of the last 25 years. Most of these are game-winners, but a few were so legendary they didn’t need to be. Two dunks made the cut. No free throws.
Reminder: These shots had to take place in or after the year 2000. That takes out all the Michael Jordan shots, the Reggie Miller eight points in nine seconds, the Larry Johnson four-point play, the Mario Elie kiss of death, the Alonzo Mourning fall-on-his-back buzzer beater, the Steve Kerr and John Paxson Finals winners, the Magic Johnson All-Star Game 3-pointer, the Patrick Ewing missed finger roll and a bunch of others.
Those shots will never be forgotten, but they also won’t be on this list. As for my ranking formula, I accounted for stakes and stage, of course, but most heavily weighted how clear the shot remains in the average fan’s head, or how quickly someone would recall the shot. If it’s an “oh yeah, I forgot about that one” shot, it’s further down on the list. If it’s still as fresh in our collective memory as the day it happened, it’s higher. Simple, right? Good. Here we go.
25. Dirk stamps out Heat (2011)
It’s too bad that this shot isn’t even more memorable, because it was the signature shot of one of the more signature championships of this century. Dallas was well on its way to going down 2-0 in the 2011 Finals as Miami’s Big 3 had raced out to 15-point lead with just over seven minutes to play in the fourth quarter. The Mavericks proceeded to close the game on a 22-5 run, with Dirk Nowitzki scoring Dallas’ final nine points, including this game-winning lefty scoop with 3.6 seconds to play, before going on to win the series in six.
24. Durant’s Game 3 dagger (2017)
When Kevin Durant…
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