"He's the same color as the court, so he might have not seen him" - Rasheed looks back at Tayshaun's block on Reggie in the 2004 playoffs
While much of the spotlight is placed on thunderous slam dunks, mesmerizing handles, and jaw-dropping acrobatic layups, there's no denying the impact defense has when it comes to winning NBA titles.
Without LeBron James' unbelievable block of Andre Iguodala's breakaway layup in 2016, the Cleveland Cavaliers wouldn't have been able to complete their comeback from a 3-1 series deficit in the NBA Finals and stun the Golden State Warriors for the championship.
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The same can be said for the 2004 Detroit Pistons, as Tayshaun Prince's chasedown swat of Reggie Miller's open layup late in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals typified that team's "Goin' to Work" mentality en route to its upset of the heavily favored Los Angeles Lakers.
A fraction of an inch from hitting the backboard
On May 24, 2004, the Pistons and the Indiana Pacers fiercely battled in Game 2 with the latter looking to take a 2-0 series lead. Detroit, though, had other plans as they took a 69-63 lead with 1:38 to go. However, Miller, the Pacers' icon, swished four straight free throws to pull Indiana to within two.
Indy even had a shot to tie the game up after Jamaal Tinsley stripped the ball away from Detroit All-Star Chauncey Billups and threw the perfect outlet pass to a streaking Miller, who had a clear path to the basket. Unfortunately for the Pacers, Prince didn't think it was "Miller Time" as he pursued "Uncle Reg" and swatted his layup away at the very last second.
Tayshaun's teammate, Rasheed Wallace, has a picture of that memorable block at home and shared on "All The Smoke" that had his teammate been a fraction of a second late, it would have been called a goaltending violation.
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"I swear to goodness, y'all, that ball is like a fraction of an inch away from the backboard," Wallace shared. "And I was like, 'Oh my gosh.'"
Tay was an unassuming 6'9" forward from Compton who Detroit picked 23rd in the 2002 NBA Draft. After a rough rookie season, Prince eventually earned a spot on the Pistons' starting five and became one of the league's elite perimeter defenders. He was named to the league's All-Defensive Team four times in his 14-year NBA career.
Related: 'His dad's been trying to get him out of here for a while' - Andre Iguodala says Klay Thompson's dad had been asking his son to join the Lakers for years
A bona fide playoff moment
When players are in the heat of battle, they don't have time to contemplate about a previous play, especially with the next one coming up. However, a few years after that play occurred, Sheed realized that it was a bona fide playoff moment — one that can rival Michael Jordan's 63-point explosion against the Boston Celtics or Kyrie Irving's game-winning triple in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals.
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"I was like, "At the time, I was like, all right, good block or whatever.' You know, we got it," Wallace said as the Pistons went on to win Game 2, 72-67. "But reminiscing about it, you know, maybe a year or two after that, I was like, 'Damn. That was a great playoff moment.'"
"We all know playoff moment: Jordan scoring 63 in Boston, playoff moment. You know, Reggie hitting, what was it? The scoring nine points or eight points in like three seconds or some s**t like that in New York. You know, great play, that was a great playoff moment," he added.
The NBA has many "what-if" moments, and Wallace believes that if Miller had gone up to dunk it, it could have altered the course of the 2004 playoffs' history.
"If he would've went up there to dunk it, that would've been game. And that could've changed the series. But Tayshaun gave that extra effort. And man, just to watch that, he ran down from, from damn near the corner. It's like, no, you're not getting this. And I think that, that sparked us and saved it," the sweet-shooting big man stated.
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"Tayshaun was kind of transparent. He's the same color as the court. So he might have never seen him," Matt Barnes joked.
The Pistons triumphed in that series and overcame tremendous odds in the 2004 NBA Finals, beating a stacked Lakers team that included Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and fellow Hall of Famers Karl Malone and Gary Payton.
Related: "I knew I was going to get it" - Tayshaun Prince talks in detail about his memorable block on Reggie Miller in the 2004 NBA Playoffs
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USA Today
31 minutes ago
- USA Today
NBA Finals TV ratings don't reflect complete picture of fan reach
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The topic of NBA TV ratings is shaped by the teams playing; the lack of household names driving the competition even though OKC's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is this season's MVP and Tyrese Haliburton is a two-time All-Star, 2024 Paris Olympics gold medalist and cold-blooded, game-winning shooter; a new era in which different teams are playing the Finals each season; and stars not named LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant getting to the Finals. The league and its TV partners need to navigate those issues, and they are focused on attracting more viewers, especially casual sports fans. But, if you were to ask the league and Disney/ABC/ESPN if they are unhappy with the numbers, their answer is no. Would they like more viewers? Of course. However, winning the night and winning with key demographics is exactly what they and corporate/partners advertisers want. In today's world of viewing consumption – streaming, multiple devices, YouTube highlights – nuance is required. Nielsen numbers are important but no longer the only factor. 'Ratings have changed from what they used to be,' NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said before Game 1 of the Finals. 'Netflix is the most valuable pure play media company out there. Nobody in this room knows what their ratings are. We don't even think in terms of ratings. We think maybe in terms of popularity, buzz around a program. We're going through a transition, and we're going to work through that.' Silver and his business operations staff have given considerable thought to the topic. Don't fret too much for the league. The NBA's nine-year, $24 billion TV deal expires after the Finals, and the new 11-year, $76 billion pact with ESPN/ABC, NBC and Amazon starts next season. That's almost triple the previous deal. Before that deal was secured, there was skepticism that the NBA could net a deal that averaged $7 billion annually. But Silver got it done. 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We don't really look at ratings year-to-year that carefully. … We're not distracted in any sense by what's happening ratings-wise this season. We're happy to have this now for 11 more years, including the Finals in 10 of those years. It is and will continue to be a marquee part of ESPN's offering.' Also in February, this time at All-Star Weekend in San Francisco, Silver addressed the topic with a five-minute answer when asked by USA TODAY Sports how the NBA views TV ratings and what is considered success. It's clearly a topic that is front of mind for Silver. 'I like the challenge, frankly, because I think for the league, and together with our partners, we have to up our game at the same time,' Silver said. 'There's a lot more competition for attention than there used to be. Just think of all of your habits in the room for people who grew up watching more traditional television. … 'I don't think that kind of engagement through social media is necessarily a substitute for watching live games because that comes up all the time. Some suggesting, 'Well, isn't that bad you're training the next generation of fans who might never watch live games but only watching highlights?' I actually think it's additive. We have a much better chance of moving young fans, in particular, to live games if they become engaged with various forms of our content, whether it's things that our players are doing off the floor, music they love, fashion or highlights.' TV ratings for the NBA's 2024-25 season were down 2% which mirrors the NFL's 2.2% decline for its 2024 season. Through the NBA's conference finals, playoff ratings were up 3%, and viewership for Games 1 and 2 was 50% higher than the next three highest-rated shows ('The Tony Awards,' '60 Minutes,' 'America's Got Talent') for the week of June 2-8. Thunder-Pacers has turned into a compelling series of talented, well-coached teams whose offensive and defensive efforts make every possession matter. This Finals is going at least six games, and any Finals series that goes more than five games is a financial success for the league's TV partners. Follow NBA reporter Jeff Zillgitt on social media@JeffZillgitt
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Will anybody coach the New York Knicks? It's a fair question.
The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic's daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox. Good morning! Win your own personal national championship today. It's like the old saying goes: Four strikes, and you've still got to hire a coach. The Knicks had a wonderful energy about them as recently as a few weeks ago. That dimmed a bit with an Eastern Conference Finals loss to the Pacers. It faded more with the defensible but pretty aggressive firingof coach Tom Thibodeau on June 3. And now it's completely gone, as the Knicks have sputtered in their search for a replacement. They have tried to talk to at least four sitting head coaches and come up empty each time. Current whiffs: It's all been so public. The Knicks got the search they wanted, as Sam Amick writes, but they're in danger of winding up with a coach who was no better than their fifth choice. Or worse! Or, of course, they could manage to work something out with one of the teams above. For now, the Knicks are set to interview a couple of recent head coaches, Taylor Jenkins and Mike Brown. Advertisement Just how big a deal is this spectacle? I asked James L. Edwards III, who covers the Knicks for The Athletic. He offered this balanced response: 💬 What New York is doing — trying to pry employed coaches away from their teams — opens the franchise up for criticism and jokes, but it's not that uncommon. New York doesn't care to win the headlines and tabloids. If it did, team president Leon Rose and/or owner James Dolan would come out of the shadows and explain the Thibodeau firing and hiring of the next coach. Neither will do that. They haven't spoken to media covering the team in years. The Knicks have and will continue to spin this as them doing their due diligence. And in their defense, New York is the home of the lone coaching vacancy in the NBA. The Knicks' need to rush isn't like other teams in this position. 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Season 2 of 'Tires' on Netflix is a pleasant surprise. Only halfway done and it's steadily rising in my workplace sitcom rankings. — Torrey Hart Teaching really little kids baseball is HARD in part because of all the ouches on grounders, pop-ups, etc. This video – yes, that's Wells! Actual Lol. – reminded me you can start with them throwing to themselves. It helped! — Chris Sprow If you missed it Wednesday, The Athletic FC had a great primer on the 2026 World Cup with one year to go. Diego Luna and Javier Bardem's 'Actors on Actors' interview was excellent. They fluidly switched between Spanish and English, which led to a deep, vulnerable conversation about the experience of performing, working in and living with a second language. — Patrick Iversen Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Our newser on Antonio Brown facing an attempted murder charge. Most-read on the website yesterday: It can't be contained. Rustin Dodd's deep dive on Roger Federer's commencement speech is back. Ticketing links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
"Isiah has to own up to his own problem" - Magic Johnson said Isiah Thomas needs to look in the mirror over Dream Team snub
"Isiah has to own up to his own problem" - Magic Johnson said Isiah Thomas needs to look in the mirror over Dream Team snub originally appeared on Basketball Network. Speculation has followed Isiah Thomas for decades — specifically, the shadow of the 1992 Dream Team and his absence. He was, after all, one of the greatest point guards in NBA history, won two NBA championships and had 12 NBA All-Star appearances. Advertisement He had the credentials. But he never made the cut. Various reasons have been put forward from politics, personality and fractured relationships. The story has never been short on theories. The prevailing narrative points to Michael Jordan in a rumored power move in response to a long-running feud with Thomas that dated back to the late '80s. Thomas' pill to swallow Magic Johnson, a close friend of Thomas, sees the story through a wider lens. He insisted on accountability on the Detroit Pistons legend for his absence from the Dream Team. "That doesn't take away from Isiah's career or who he is as a man," Johnson said. "But at the same time, Isiah has to own up to his own problem and say, 'Hey, you know what, I had a hand in that, in that situation." Advertisement Thomas' rivalry with Jordan became infamous, not only on the court but in the psyche of the NBA, fueled by bruising playoff matchups and the bitter physicality of Detroit's Bad Boys era. The Eastern Conference battles between Detroit and Chicago were turf wars and Thomas stood at the center of it all, a general on a team that made it their mission to rattle and reject Jordan at every turn. While the spotlight has often fallen on Jordan's role, Johnson's comments redirect the focus. He points to Thomas himself, suggesting the point guard's own actions and strained relationships across the league contributed as much as any behind-the-scenes veto. Thomas had tensions with several Dream Team members, including Scottie Pippen and Larry Bird. The Pistons' unapologetically aggressive style, particularly during their peak from 1988 to 1990, drew resentment from rivals who saw their success as coming at the cost of sportsmanship. Advertisement In 1991, they famously walked off the court without shaking hands after being swept by the Bulls in the Eastern Conference finals — a move that, though not orchestrated by Thomas alone, was closely associated with his leadership. That moment wasn't forgotten. In the politically charged selection process for the Dream Team, every grudge mattered. Chemistry was paramount and if too many stars had reservations about one player, that player wasn't technically going. Related: "Yeah, they'll probably have to do something" - Bird says the NBA will be forced to move the 3-point line back if high volume continues Magic's part Johnson, who had once shared a brotherhood with Thomas before their relationship soured in the early '90s, also took a moment to clarify his role, or lack thereof, in the Dream Team controversy. The Los Angeles Lakers legend didn't have a part to play in Thomas not making the cut despite a leadership role in the selection process. Advertisement "The only thing David Stern and Rod Thorn asked me to do was to call Larry Bird and Michael Jordan and tell them they should play on the Dream Team," Johnson recalled. "Because Michael Jordan was on the fence on whether he wanted to play or not. Larry Bird was on the fence only because of his back." Johnson, a central figure in the NBA's golden age, wasn't involved in gatekeeping. Instead, he was a recruiter, called upon to ensure the league's top stars bought into the Olympic experiment. Amid the web of stories and finger-pointing, Thomas might benefit from acknowledging the dynamics that made his inclusion a hard sell. For a player of his stature, being kept off the most iconic team in basketball history was a statement about the NBA's ecosystem at the time and how the game's best had come to view one of their own. Even now, the debate endures. But as Johnson pointed out, careers like Thomas' don't get erased by a single omission. They are marked by rings, records, moments and the respect of those who played the game at its highest level. The Dream Team lives in legend, but Thomas' legacy still stands. Advertisement With or without the Dream Team. Related: 'We are too old for this right now' - Magic Johnson pleads with Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas to talk out their beef This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 15, 2025, where it first appeared.
