“That was the defining moment for us,” O’Neal recalled. “For Shaq and Kobe. For the two of us. Once he did that, anything bad was forgotten. It was fucking magic.”

“When he’d go up and dunk, it reminded me of a Christmas tree, with defenders hanging off of him like ornaments,” said Greg Kite, Orlando’s backup center. “Or they were the bowling pins, and he was an enormous 300-pound ball.

“You watch Kobe Bryant and you don’t see special,” said Rob Babcock, Minnesota’s director of player personnel. “His game doesn’t say, ‘I’m a very special talent.’” “I think it’s a total mistake,” said Jon Jennings, the Boston Celtics’ director of basketball development.

Then something truly unexpected unfolded: Dennis Rodman started to sob. “I’m never going to win,” he said between tears. “No matter what I do for this league, for the game of basketball, I’m never going to win.” He opened a piece of paper, pointed to some letters. “I’ve got 10 charities here that I’m going to give $10,000 to. You tell me if that’s

One day later, in the most awkward husband-and-wife press session since Mike Tyson and Robin Givens sat down for a 1988 Barbara Walters interview, the Bryants appeared at a news conference inside Staples Center, holding hands and appearing on the brink of tears. “I sit here in front of you guys, furious at myself, disgusted at myself for making the

With Jackson, O’Neal, and Bryant, they had posted a 13-1 mark in the NBA Finals. The Pacers, Sixers, and Nets were all roadkill for a franchise destined for greatness, and 2004 appeared to be no different.

He was replaced by Salley, the 36-year-old deep reserve trying to become the first man to win titles with three different franchises.

He immediately brought calm to a frenzied scene, presenting each player with a book (the first he gave Jordan was Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison), lowering expectations, cutting back on Collins’s intensity, letting the men express themselves as individuals.

This was eating at Burger King following a nine-course bonanza at Per Se. The Nets were a 52-regular-season-win team with one superstar, point guard Jason Kidd, and a slew of mehs who would be sixth and seventh men in Jackson’s rotation.