March 9, 1997: The Notorious B.I.G. Is Killed

March 9, 1997: Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. Biggie Smalls, a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G., is shot and killed in Los Angeles. The Brooklynite rapper was only 24, and was in the city to promote his new album.

It was about 12:45 AM, and he was being driven in a GMC Suburban, leaving a party at the Petersen Automotive Museum. The Suburban was stopped at a red light, only 50 yards from the Museum, and a black Chevrolet Impala pulled up alongside. The Impala's driver pulled out a 9-millimeter pistol, and hit Biggie with 4 shots. Biggie's driver drove to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, but he had no chance: Although only the last bullet was determined to be fatal, it went through his liver, his heart, and a lung.

Since the murder took place in Los Angeles, and he was black, the police didn't try all that hard to solve it, and it remains unsolved. It's almost as if L.A. has it in for Brooklyn, especially in years ending in a 7.

It is often considered to be a revenge killing, as the theory goes that people loyal to Biggie had killed California-based rapper Tupac Shakur the preceding September.

The album in question was released on March 25, and 2 singles from it, "Hypnotize" and "Mo Money Mo Problems," hit Number 1. Once again, death proved to be a great career move for a musical personality.

There are those who believe that Biggie was the greatest rapper of all time, in spite of the fact that he only recorded 2 albums in his lifetime. Their titles were Ready to Die and Life After Death.

UPDATE: On September 29, 2023, Duane "Keffe D" Davis, a member of the Compton Crips gang, was arrested for ordering Tupac's murder. He has also been linked to Biggie's murder.

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March 9, 1997 was a Sunday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were 11 games played in the NBA that day:

* The New York Knicks beat the Chicago Bulls, 97-93 at Madison Square Garden. Michael Jordan scored 36 for Chicago, but New York got 32 from Patrick Ewing.

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Los Angeles Lakers, 115-105 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Eddie Jones had 34 points and 13 rebounds for the Lakers. Kobe Bryant only scored 12, and Shaquille O'Neal was injured and did not play.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Boston Celtics, 114-90 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Washington Bullets, 99-93 at the USAir Arena (formerly the Capital Centre) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Charlotte Hornets beat the Miami Heat, 82-76 at the Charlotte Coliseum.

* The Toronto Raptors beat the Vancouver Grizzlies, 81-77 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 115-106 at the Target Center in Minneapolis. Karl Malone had 36 points and 11 rebounds for the Jazz. And they said the Mailman didn't deliver on Sundays.

* The Houston Rockets beat their arch-rivals, the Dallas Mavericks, 88-83 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Orlando Magic, 121-85 at the America West Arena (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Sacramento Kings, 102-98 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat their arch-rivals, the Seattle SuperSonics, 103-93 at the Rose Garden (now the Moda Center) in Portland.

There were 7 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the San Jose Sharks, 2-1 at the San Jose Arena (now the SAP Center).

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Buffalo Sabres, 4-1 at the Marine Midland Arena (now the KeyBank Center) in Buffalo.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Washington Capitals, 5-0 at the CoreStates Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Calgary Flames, 2-1 at the Ice Palace (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa. Rob Zamuner scored the winner for the Bolts with 2:40 left in overtime.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Florida Panthers, 3-1 at the Miami Arena.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the St. Louis Blues, 4-1 at the Kiel Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis.

* And the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the Colorado Avalanche played to a tie, 2-2 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.