October 11, 2020: Celtics 17, Lakers 17

Pictured: Not "social distancing."

October 11, 2020: The Los Angeles Lakers clinch the NBA Championship, beating the Miami Heat, 106-93 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, at the COVID-19-forced neutral site -- the "bubble," where the entire NBA Playoffs were held, in front of no paying fans -- of the AdventHealth Arena in the Orlando suburb of Bay Lake, Florida.

It was the 4th NBA Championship, and the 4th Bill Russell Award for the Most Valuable Player of the Finals, for the 3rd different team, for LeBron James. He had previously won with the Heat in 2012 and 2013, and with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016. Of course, he had engineered his shift to the Lakers, after abandoning the Cavs for the 2nd time after the 2018 Finals. There was no bitterness that time, because he had finally won them a title.

It was also the 4th title for 40-year-old Udonis Haslem, who was LeBron's teammate on the 2012 and '13 Heat, and who also won with the Heat in 2006. It's the 3rd title for Danny Green, who beat LeBron, Udonis and the Heat in the '14 Finals for the San Antonio Spurs, and won in 2019 with the Toronto Raptors. It was also the 3rd title for JaVale McGee, who beat LeBron's Cavs with the 2017 and '18 Golden State Warriors.

It was the 2nd title for 4-time All-Star Rajon Rondo, who previously won with the 2008 Boston Celtics. It was the 2nd title for Quinn Cook, who was on the '18 Warriors. And it was the 2nd title for J.R. Smith, the Lakewood, New Jersey native who won with LeBron and the '16 Cavs, but was a target of ridicule for his mistake in the '17 Finals.

It was the 1st title, at any level, for the Lakers' head coach, Frank Vogel. It was also the 1st title for 34-year-old 8-time All-Star Dwight Howard, 27-year-old 7-time All-Star Anthony Davis, 35-year-old never All-Star Jared Dudley, 30-year-old never All-Star Markieff Morris, and for Kostas Antetokounmpo, younger brother of 4-time Milwaukee Bucks All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who had yet to reach an NBA Finals. (He won it all the next year.)

Rondo became the 1st player ever to win titles with both the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers. Clyde Lovellette had won titles with the Celtics and the Minneapolis Lakers.

McGee and Quinn Cook joined Jamaal Wilkes as the only players to win titles with both the Lakers and the Warriors, regardless of what cities those franchises played in. (The Warriors played in Philadelphia from 1946 to 1962, and the Lakers in Minneapolis from 1947 to 1960.)

LeBron and Danny Green (2014 Spurs and 2019 Raptors) joined John Salley (1989 and '90 Pistons, 1996 Bulls, 2000 Lakers) and Robert Horry (1994 & '95 Houston Rockets; 2000, '01 & '02 Lakers; 2005 & '07 San Antonio Spurs) as the only players to win titles with 3 different teams. Haslem joined Salley and Tim Duncan (1999, 2003, '05, '07 and '14 Spurs) as the only players to win NBA titles in 3 different decades.

Rondo joined A.C. Green as the only players to win an NBA title in one decade, not win one in the next, and then win one in the next. His 12-year gap between titles exceeded Green's 11-year gap (1988-2000), and was 2nd all-time only to that of Sam Cassell, his teammate on the '08 Celtics, who had also won with the 1995 Houston Rockets, 13 years earlier.

Finally, in this, the NBA's 74th and longest season, the Lakers tied the Celtics for the most NBA Championships, 17:

* Celtics: 1957, '59, '60, '61, '62, '63, '64, '65, '66, '68, '69, '74, '76, '81, '84, '86 and 2008.

* Lakers: 1949, '50, '52, '53, '54, '72, '80, '82, '85, '87, '88, '2000, '01, '02, '08, '09 and 2020.

Meaning that 2 franchises have won 34 of the 74 NBA Championships, or 46 percent of them. Throw in the 6 titles won by the Warriors, the 6 won by and the Bulls, and the 5 won by the Spurs, and that's 5 teams winning 69 percent of the titles.

For comparison's sake, here was the ratios of the top 5 teams in the other 3 sports at that time:

* MLB, starting with the 1st World Series in 1903: Yankees 27, Cardinals 11, Red Sox 10, Athletics 9, Giants 8. That's 65 out of 117, or 55 percent. So, even with the old domination by the Yankees, the MLB was more equitable than the NBA.

* NFL, starting in 1920: Packers 13, Bears 9, Giants 8, Steelers 6, Patriots 6. That's 42 out of 100, or 42 percent.

* NHL, starting with the 1st Stanley Cup won by a current team, 1916: Canadiens 24, Maple Leafs 13, Red Wings 11, Bruins 6 and Blackhawks 6. That's 60 out of 103, or 58 percent.

Of course, the 1st 5 Laker titles came in Minneapolis, so, really, the Celtics still led, 17-12. The next-closest teams were the Bulls with 6 and the Spurs with 5.

And the Lakers and Celtics have faced each other in more NBA Finals than any other matchup, 12: The Celtics winning in 1959, '62, '63, '65, '66, '68, '69, '84 and 2008; and the Lakers winning in 1985, '87 and 2009.

James and Davis were named to the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team a year later.

However, this was, without question, the most asterisk-worthy title in NBA history. It was unlike any other season, and any other Playoffs. There wasn't home-court advantage for anyone. From 2008 to 2012, including their 2010 title, the Lakers won 5 straight Division titles. In the 10 years after that, here is where they finished in the Western Conference: 7th, 14th, 14th, 15th, 14th, 11th, 10th, 1st (the 2020 title), 7th, 11th.

The end of the Kobe Bryant era was bad, which, due to age and other attrition, was understandable. But the LeBron era has been crowned by that asterisk-worthy title. By Laker standards, which means multiple titles, this period has been a failure, every bit as much as their Wilt Chamberlain era, where, in 5 seasons, they made 4 Finals but only won 1 title.

And, unlike Wilt, LeBron has been, effective, all of these things for the Lakers: Best all-around player, best scorer, best passer, head coach, general manager and chief scout. No one player, in any sport, has ever had that much power over a team. Perhaps none ever should again.

UPDATE: The Lakers again finished 7th in 2023 and 2024. The Bubble Season aside, they have not made the Finals since 2010. And the Celtics won an 18th title in 2024.

*

October 11, 2020 was a Sunday. The NHL had also decided its title later than usual, on September 28, with the Tampa Bay Lightning winning the Stanley Cup, beating the Dallas Stars in 6 games.

Baseball's postseason was also in progress, and "in a bubble." Or, rather, 2 bubbles: Petco Park in San Diego, a National League ballpark, for the American League Playoffs; and Globe Life Field in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas, an AL ballpark, for the NL Playoffs.

There was 1 game on this day, Game 1 of the AL Championship Series, at Petco. The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Houston Astros, 2-1. Blake Snell outpitched Framber Valdez. Randy Arozarena hit a home run. The Rays went on to win the series in 7 games, but lost the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

And these NFL games were played:

* The New York Giants lost to the Dallas Cowboys, 37-34 at AT&T Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The New York Jets lost to the Arizona Cardinals, 30-10 at State Farm Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

* The Baltimore Ravens beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 27-3 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Los Angeles Rams beat the Washington Football Team, 30-10 at FedEx Field (now Northwest Stadium) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland. This game marked the return of Washington quarterback Alex Smith from an injury that nearly killed him 2 years earlier. I have a separate entry for this event.

* The Carolina Panthers beat the Atlanta Falcons, 23-16 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

* The Houston Texans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 30-14 at NRG Stadium (as Reliant Stadium was then known) in Houston.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 38-29 at Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh.

* The Cleveland Browns beat the Indianapolis Colts, 32-23 at FirstEnergy Stadium (now named Huntington Bank Field) in Cleveland.

* The Las Vegas Raiders beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 40-32 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the San Francisco 49ers, 43-17 at Levi's Stadium in the San Francisco suburb of Santa Clara, California.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Minnesota Vikings, 27-26 at Lumen Field in Seattle.

* The preceding Thursday, the Chicago Bears beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 20-19 at the new Soldier Field in Chicago.

* The next night, on ESPN Monday Night Football, the New Orleans Saints beat the Los Angeles Chargers, 30-27 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* Pushed back to Tuesday night due to COVID reasons, the Tennessee Titans beat the Buffalo Bills, 42-16 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.

* And the Denver Broncos, the Detroit Lions, the Green Bay Packers and the New England Patriots had a bye week.

July 8, 2010: "The Decision" Airs On ESPN

July 8, 2010: The Decision airs on ESPN. LeBron James had played out his contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Where would he go? The New York Knicks? The Chicago Bulls? The Los Angeles Lakers? Surely, it would be one of the big-market teams.

(The idea that he would go to one of the "little brother franchises," the soon-to-be Brooklyn Nets or the Los Angeles Clippers, was ludicrous. Thanks to Kyrie Irving with the former and Kawhi Leonard with the latter, it is not ludicrous anymore.)

But there was also talk that he would join Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat to form a "superteam." And, yes, Miami is a big market, if not as big as New York, Los Angeles or Chicago.

ESPN reporter Jim Gray pitched the idea of a show covering James' choice to the network. Interviewing James himself, it was essentially the pregame show for the next phase of James' career. He said, "In this Fall, I'm going to take my talents to South Beach, and join the Miami Heat."

Heat fans -- the ones who supported the team before this, and soon found themselves outnumbered by people who were merely LeBron fans -- were ecstatic. Everybody else felt betrayed:

* Knick fans couldn't figure out why he wouldn't want to play in New York, "The Greatest City in the World," in Madison Square Garden, "The World's Most Famous Arena." (James Dolan was running the Knicks, that's why.)

* Bulls fans couldn't figure out why he wouldn't want to play on the team of Michael Jordan. (Jordan's shadow, maybe? After all, everything LeBron had done, and has gone on to do, has been measured against Jordan's career and life. Or maybe the Ohio native was just tired of the cold Midwestern weather.)

* Laker fans couldn't figure out why he didn't want to play for, if not the historically most successful (2nd only to the Boston Celtics), then certainly the most glamorous franchise in the NBA.

Did it work? Sort of: LeBron was with the Heat for 4 seasons, and reached the NBA Finals all 4 times -- but only won 2 of them. Then he finished that contract, and went back to the Cavs, and led them to the Finals 4 straight times, all against the Golden State Warriors, but only won 1 of them -- but it was still the title they had waited the team's entire existence for. Then he finished that contract, and went to the Lakers, leading them to a title in 2020, but that was in a COVID-interrupted season and an entire Playoffs in a "bubble," so Laker haters tend to put an asterisk on it. Otherwise, with the Lakers, he has fallen short.

The Decision showed that, unlike every other league, the NBA was now player-driven, not coach-driven, owner-driven, or even TV-driven. LeBron was driving TV. He had become the most influential figure in the league, more so than Commissioner David Stern and his eventual replacement, Adam Silver. The NBA was now The LeBron Show, with hundreds of supporting characters.

*

July 8, 2010 was a Thursday. These Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners, 3-1 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle. The Yankees trailed 1-0 going into the 8th inning, but tied it, and won it in the 9th on a 2-run single by Alex Rodriguez against the team with whom he came up. This made a winning pitcher out of Andy Pettitte.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-3 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Brian Schneider won it with a home run in the bottom of the 12th.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Washington Nationals, 9-1 at Nationals Park in Washington.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-2 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-1 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Texas Rangers, 6-4 at Rangers Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Houston Astros beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-0 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston. Roy Oswalt allowed a single to Neil Walker in the 1st inning, and no more hits the rest of the way, although he walked 2 batters and hit another. Lance Berkman provided all the scoring with 2 solo home runs for the Astros.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 1-0 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Guaranteed Rate Field) in Chicago. The only run of the game came on a sacrifice fly by Paul Konerko in the bottom of the 1st inning. John Danks pitched a 2-hit shutout.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 9-3 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Florida Marlins, 10-4 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the New York Mets, the Atlanta Braves, the Boston Red Sox, the Detroit Tigers, the Kansas City Royals and the Oakland Athletics were not scheduled to play.

The 2010 World Cup was also nearing its conclusion in South Africa. The Semifinals had been held: On July 6 in Cape Town, the Netherlands beat Uruguay, 3-2; and on July 7 in Durban, Spain beat Germany, 1-0. In the Final on July 11, Spain beat the Netherlands, 1-0 in extra time in Johannesburg.

June 21, 2012: LeBron Gets His Ring

Dwyane Wade (left) and LeBron James

June 21, 2012: LeBron James, the most-hyped basketball player of all time, gets his validation as an all-time great confirmed, by winning his 1st NBA Championship.

He had been hyped since high school in Akron, Ohio. He was hyped from there to his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers, without having attended a single college class. He got them to the Finals in 4 years. But after 7 years, and only 1 Finals appearance, his contract had run out, and he asked team owner Dan Gilbert to bring in new players that he could lead to an NBA Championship. Gilbert did not give him that assurance, and so James made "The Decision": "I'm taking my talents to South Beach."

He went to the Miami Heat, who already had Dwyane Wade, who had led them to the title in 2006. They brought in Chris Bosh, Juwan Howard, Shane Battier, Udonis Haslem and Eddy Curry. LeBron knew that Wade was The Man in Miami, but, unlike Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles, he didn't have to be The Man: He wanted a title, not recognition as the leader.

The Heat won the Eastern Conference title in 2011, but were beaten in the NBA Finals by the veteran San Antonio Spurs. In 2012, they got back to the Finals, this time against the Oklahoma City Thunder, making their 1st Finals appearance since 1996, when the franchise was the Seattle SuperSonics. The Thunder were no slouches, as they had Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Kendrick Perkins, Nick Collison, Nazr Mohammed, Reggie Jackson (no relation to the Baseball Hall-of-Famer of the same name) and the veteran Derek Fisher, in his 8th NBA Finals, having won 5 of them.

In 1991, in winning his 1st title, Michael Jordan saw his Chicago Bulls lose Game 1, but he took over, and led them to win the next 4 straight. This would also happen to LeBron in 2012. The Thunder won Game 1 in Oklahoma city, 105-94, Durant scored 36, James 30. But the Heat took home-court advantage away in Game 2, 100-96. James and Durant each scored 32.

The series moved to Miami, and Games 3 and 4 were close, 91-85 and 104-98, respectively. Westbrook scored 43 points in Game 4, one of the best performances ever in an NBA Finals defeat. Game 5, at the American Airlines Arena (now named the Kaseya Center) was a coronation, as the Heat won, 121-106. Durant scored 32, James 26, but a 36-22 3rd quarter gave the Heat the advantage, and eventually the title.

LeBron had his title, and his ring. He then led the U.S. team to the Gold Medal at the Olympic Games in London. Sports Illustrated named him its Sportsperson of the Year.

He led the Heat to the title again in 2013, beating the Spurs in 7 games. But the following year, the Spurs beat the Heat in 5 games, ending LeBron's tenure in Miami. In hindsight, the long LeBron Era can be broken up into halves: The 1st half being the Tim Duncan Era (2003-14), the 2nd half being the Steph Curry Era (afterward).

James would get a 3rd title, in 2016, having returned to the Cavaliers; and a 4th, with the Los Angeles Lakers, in 2020.

UPDATE: The Heat do not yet have a team Hall of Fame, but they have retired some uniform numbers. From their founding era, they have retired 10 for guard Tim Hardaway Sr. From their 2006 NBA Championship, they have retired 3 for guard Dwyane Wade, 32 for center Shaquille O'Neal, 33 for forward Alonzo Mourning, and 40 for forward Udonis Haslem. From their 2012 and 2013 NBA Championships, in addition to holdovers Wade and Haslem, they have retired 1 for forward Chris Bosh.

As yet, they have not retired 6 for LeBron James, probably due to the fact that he is still an active player. But they have retired 23 for Michael Jordan -- not because he had anything to do with their team, but for overall contributions to basketball. And 6 has been retired by the entire league for Bill Russell.

Hardaway and Mourning have been elected to the Florida Sports Hall of Fame. James and Wade were named to the NBA's 75th Anniversary 75 Greatest Players. So was Ray Allen, who joined the team for the next season, winning that season's title. For the Thunder, Durant, Westbrook and Harden were named to it.

*

June 21, 2012 was a Thursday. The Stanley Cup Finals had ended 10 days earlier, as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the New Jersey Devils, to my chagrin, in 6 games. Football was out of season. These games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Miami Marlins, 6-5 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-1 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Chris Nelson and Wilin Rosario hit home runs for the Rox, while Jimmy Rollins did so for the Phils.

* The Washington Nationals beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 5-2 at Nationals Park in Washington.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Minnesota Twins, 9-1 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 2-1 at Comerica Park in Detroit. Quintin Berry singled Ramón Santiago home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-1 at the O.co Coliseum (as the Oakland Coliseum was then known). Travis Blackley had been level with Clayton Kershaw for 8 innings. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Josh Lindblom relieved Kershaw, and started the bottom of the 9th by walking Coco Crisp. Jemile Weeks singled, and Yoenis Céspedes hit a 3-run home run off Josh Lindblom, to make a winning pitcher out of Ryan Cook.

June 15, 1995: Pat Riley Quits the Knicks -- With a Fax

June 15, 1995: Pat Riley quits as head coach and general manager of the New York Knicks. He tells the Madison Square Garden Corporation by sending them a fax.

Quitting by fax? You just don't do that. That's like breaking up with your girlfriend by text message.

And you thought he was so suave, and so cool. Actually, he ruined that reputation by changing his M.O.: With the Los Angeles Lakers, he was the director of "Showtime!" Following the title they won in 1980 under head coach Paul Westhead, Riley led them to titles in 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988, losing in the Finals in 1983, '84 and '89. The greatest team the NBA has ever seen -- yes, better than the Chicago Bulls led by Michael Jordan that the Knicks simply couldn't get past (except in 1994, when Jordan was, um, away).

But with the Knicks, Riley brought scoring all across the NBA down, down, down. He was the basketball equivalent of George Graham's "Boring, Boring Arsenal," the difference being that Graham's Arsenal, unlike Riley's Knicks, won a League title. (Two, in fact.) In 4 seasons at The Garden, Riley won 3 Atlantic Division titles, but only got to the Eastern Conference Finals twice, and to the NBA Finals once, losing to the Houston Rockets in Game 7 in 1994. As Knick boss, Riley failed.

But he stuck with the Heat longer than the Lakers or the Knicks, winning a title as head coach in 2006; then, as team President, guiding them to 5 trips to the Finals and 2 more titles: Winning in 2012 and 2013; losing in 2011, 2014 and 2020. (UPDATE: They reached the Finals but lost again in 2023.)

In Los Angeles and Miami, "Riles" is loved. In New York, he is still despised, the basketball equivalent of Bill Belichick stiffing the Jets for the New England Patriots after 1 day -- except Pat did it first, paving the way.

*

June 15, 1995 was a Thursday. The NBA season ended the night before, when the Rockets completed a 4-game sweep of the Orlando Magic. The Stanley Cup Playoffs were between the Conference Finals and the Finals, and the New Jersey Devils went on to sweep the Detroit Red Wings in 4 straight. Football was out of season.

And these 9 games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Detroit Tigers, 9-2 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Sean Bergman was the winning pitcher, while Brian Boehringer only lasted 4 innings as the Yanks' starting pitcher. Danny Tartabull went 3-for-4 with an RBI, but the rest of the team only got 4 hits.

* The New York Mets beat the Florida Marlins, 5-4 at Shea Stadium. The Mets scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th to send the game to extra innings, and Joe Orsulak singled Todd Hundley home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th innign. This made Blas Minor a winning pitcher in relief of Pete Harnisch.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Montreal Expos, 2-0 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Greg Maddux pitched a 7-hit shutout, outpitching Pedro Martínez. Mike Kelly hit a home run, and Marquis Grissom went 4-for-4.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Houston Astros, 4-2 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Tony Longmire hit a home run in the bottom of the 9th to win it.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 11-7 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants, 3-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Barry Bonds appeared as a pinch-hitter, and struck out.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres, 2-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Ray Lankford hit a home run. Tony Gwynn went 1-for-4.

* The California Angels beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-1 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

* And the Kansas City Royals beat the Oakland Athletics, 7-0 at the Oakland Coliseum. Mark Gubicza allowed 1 hit, a single to Mark McGwire in the 4th. He also hit McGwire with a pitch in the 2nd, had Rickey Henderson reach on an error in the 3rd, and walked Rubén Sierra in the 6th. In contrast, A's starter Ron Darling allowed all 7 runs, and didn't get out of the 3rd inning.

June 12, 2023: The Denver Nuggets Finally Win a Title

NOTE: While these entries are dated 2022, I decided to backdate the posting dates of events from 2023 onward to the same date in 2022.

June 12, 2023: After 47 seasons in the NBA, and 9 seasons before that in the American Basketball Association, the Denver Nuggets finally win a league championship.

The Nuggets were founded with the ABA in 1967. In 1976, they reached the Finals, but lost to the New York Nets. Those two teams, along with the Indiana Pacers and the San Antonio Spurs, were then invited into the NBA. They became a perennial Playoff team, but never a great team: They reached the Western Conference Finals in 1986 and 2009, and had a famous 8th seed over 1st seed upset of the Seattle SuperSonics in 1994, but they never made a serious threat to take the overall Championship.

In 2015, Michael Malone was named head coach, after having been head coach of the Sacramento Kings and assisting at 4 other NBA teams. He inherited Serbian center Nikola Jokić, a.k.a. "Joker." He went on to be named the NBA's Most Valuable Player in 2021 and 2022. In 2016, the Nuggets drafted Kentucky guard Jamal Murray. In 2019, having picked up forward Michael Porter Jr., the Nuggets won the Northwest Division, and reached the Conference Semifinals. In 2020, they won the Division again, and reached the Conference Finals.

Calvin Booth, a center who spent 10 years in the NBA, was named general manager. In 2021, he picked up center JaVale McGee, who had won titles with Steph Curry's Golden State Warriors and LeBron James' Los Angeles Lakers. They reached the Conference Semifinals. In 2022, with the addition of forward Aaron Gordon, they got knocked out in the 1st Round. It began to look like the Nuggets were victims of a tough Western Conference.

Before the next season, Booth picked up guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who had played with LeBron and McGee on the 2020 NBA Champion Lakers; and forward Bruce Brown. They went 53-29, winning the Division, then beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Playoffs, then the Phoenix Suns, and then swept LeBron and the Lakers in 4 straight, reaching the NBA Finals for the 1st time in franchise history.

They faced the Miami Heat.  in the NBA Finals. After winning titles with Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal in 2006, and with Wade and LeBron in 2012 and '13, the Heat had rebuilt. With title-winning coach Erik Spoelstra still running them, and the legendary Pat Riley still as team president, they reached the Finals in 2020 but lost to the Lakers, and the Eastern Conference Finals in 2022 but lost to the Boston Celtics.

They had experience: Haslem had been on all 3 Heat title teams, and Kevin Love had been on the 2016 NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers with LeBron. They had star power: Bam Adebayo had made his 2nd NBA All-Star Game, Jimmy Butler had been in 6, Love had been in 5, and Victor Oladipo had been in 2. (UPDATE: Tyler Herro had already been recognized as a star, but his 1st All-Star Game was yet to come. He missed the 2023 Playoffs due to injury.) They also had some confusion: They had their own Serbian star, the similarly-named Nikola Jović.

The Nuggets won Game 1 at the Ball Arena in Denver, 104-93. But, despite Jokić scoring 41 points, the Heat took Game 2, 111-108, to gain a road split. It was the 3rd time in that year's Playoffs that Jokić had scored 40 or more in a game, and the Nuggets had lost them all. It looked like they were in trouble.

The action shifted to the Kasey Center in Miami, and, between them, Jokić and Murray took over. The former scored 32 points, with 21 rebounds (18 on defense) and 10 assists; the latter scored 34, with 10 rebounds and 10 assists, plus a steal. It was the 1st time in NBA history -- regular season or postseason -- that a pair of teammates had each recorded a triple-double with at least 30 points in the same game. The Nuggets won, 109-94.

They also won Game 4 in Miami, 108-95. Game 5 was back in Denver, and the Heat put up a fight. They led 24-22 after the 1st quarter, and 51-44 at the half. The Nuggets' shooting was cold. But in the 2nd half, their got hot, and the Heat's, ironically, went cold. A 26-20 3rd quarter and a 24-18 4th quarter gave the Nuggets a 94-89 win, and their 1st World Championship.

Jokić averaged 30 points, 13.5 rebounds, and 9.5 assists throughout the Playoffs, becoming the 1st player in NBA history to lead the league in points (600), rebounds (269), and assists (190) in a single postseason. Wilt Chamberlain had never done that. Nor had Bill Russell, nor Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, nor Shaq, nor LeBron, nor Tim Duncan, nor any other big man, nor any not-as-big man like Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant. He was named the Finals' MVP.

The Colorado Avalanche -- like the Nuggets, and the NFL's Los Angeles Rams, and soccer's Colorado Rapids and Arsenal F.C. -- had won the Stanley Cup the year before. This made Denver the 1st city ever to simultaneously hold the Championships of the NBA and NHL. Despite their many titles, it had never happened for New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago or Los Angeles. But Denver held both titles -- but for only 1 day.

UPDATE: Jokić was named NBA MVP again in 2024. He would likely join the Nuggets' team Hall of Fame, except that, for the moment, they don't have one.

But they do retire numbers. From their ABA years, they have retired 33 for forward David Thompson, 40 for forward Byron Beck, and 44 for center Dan Issel. From the 1980s, they have honored Issel; 2, for forward Alex English; 12, for guard Lafayette "Fat" Lever, and head coach Doug Moe, with a banner with his number of coaching wins on it, 432. From the 1990s, they have retired 55 for center Dikembe Mutombo.

Beck, Issel, Thompson, English and Moe have been elected to the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. So have 1970s guards Chuck Williams and Ralph Simpson, 1980s guard Bill Hanzlik, 1980s forward Glen Gondrezick, 2000s guard Chauncey Billups (mainly because he was a Denver native, having starred for other teams), longtime general manager Carl Scheer, and longtime trainer Robert "Chopper" Travaglini.

No member of the '23 Nuggets had been named to the NBA's 75th Anniversary 75 Greatest Players in 2021.

*

June 12, 2023 was a Monday. Football was out of season. The Stanley Cup was won the following night, by the Vegas Golden Knights over the Florida Panthers.

And these 8 Major League Baseball games were played, with 4 of them going to extra innings:

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-3 at Fenway Park in Boston. The Rockies scored 2 runs in the top of the 10th inning, on a bases-loaded walk by Randal Grichuk, and an error with Nolan Jones at bat. The Red Sox could only come back with 1 in the bottom of the 10th.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-5 at Comerica Park in Detroit. Spencer Torkelson singled Andy Ibáñez home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Torkelson, filling in for the injured Miguel Cabrera, hit like him, going 3-for-6 with a home run and 3 RBIs.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-4 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. Jonathan India grounded into a fielder's choice that scored TJ Friedl with the winning run in the top of the 10th inning.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Texas Rangers, 9-6 at Globe Life Field in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. The Angels scored 4 runs in the top of the 12th, on home runs by Shohei Ohtani and Chad Wallach. The Rangers could only pull 1 run back in the bottom of the 12th.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 9-8 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-3 at the Oakland Coliseum.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Miami Heat, 8-1 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.

June 12, 2011: The Dallas Mavericks Win the NBA Title

June 12, 2011: The Dallas Mavericks win their 1st NBA Championship, beating the Miami Heat, and avenging their defeat in the 2006 NBA Finals.

The Mavericks began play in 1980, at the Reunion Arena. They reached the Playoffs for the 1st time in 1984, and reached the Western Conference Finals in 1988. They tailed off, and won just 11 games in 1992-93, and 13 in 1993-94. It took until 2000-01 for them to make the Playoffs again.

The next season, they moved into the new American Airlines Center, and reached the Conference Finals in 2003. In 2006, led by German power forward Dirk Nowitzki and guard Jason Terry (known as JET because of his initials and his speed), they won the 1st 2 games of the Finals, but the Heat won the next 4 straight. The Mavs won just 1 Playoff round over the next 4 seasons. They had little trouble scoring, but their defense wasn't very good: The joke became that they should be called the Allas Mavericks, and their best player should be called Irk, because they had no D.

But in 2008, Mavericks president Donnie Nelson (son of former Celtics star and Mavericks head coach Don Nelson) hired Rick Carlisle as head coach, and brought back former star guard Jason Kidd. In 2009, the Mavs added forward Shawn Marion. For 2010-11, they acquired forwards Peja Stojaković and Caron Butler, and center Tyson Chandler. They were ready.

But so were the Heat. They still had Dwyane Wade, Udonis Haslem and Žydrūnas Ilgauskas from their 2006 title. Since then, head coach Erik Spoelstra and team president Pat Riley had added Jamaal Magloire, Mario Chalmers. Just in the preceding off-season, they had added LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Juwan Howard and Mike Miller. And, in midseason, they added Mike Bibby. Building a superteam was the intention. And they would have home-court advantage, hosting Games 1 and 2, and, if necessary, Games 6 and 7.

To confuse things, the teams' arenas had the same sponsor. American Airlines is headquartered in Dallas, so it made sense for them to sponsor the Mavericks' home, the American Airlines Center. But they also sponsored the Heat's home, the American Airlines Arena. It has since been renamed the Kaseya Center. But this was the first time a Finals -- aside from the single-game format of the Super Bowl -- was held entirely at 2 different venues with, for all intents and purposes, the same name.

The Heat won Game 1, 92-84. But the Mavs found a road win in Game 2, 95-93. despite Wade scoring 36 points. The series moved to Dallas, and, despite Nowitzki scoring 34, the Heat stole home-court advantage back, 88-86.

Because of the next 3 games, and the NBA team owners locking the players out, delaying the start of the next season, the Heat didn't win another game that counted until the following Christmas Day. The Mavs took Game 4, 86-83. They took Game 5, 112-103.

LeBron made his 1st 4 shots in Game 6 in Miami, and the Heat led, 20-11. But Carlisle switched the Mavs to a zone defense, and they went on a 21-4 run that proved decisive. They turned the Heat's 1st 6 turnovers into 14 points. But the momentum shifted again, and the Heat went on a 14-0 run to retake the lead.

With 6:25 left in the half, the momentum shifted again. A midcourt fight during a timeout led to technical fouls for Haslem and Chalmers, and for DeShawn Stevenson of Dallas. From the start of the 3rd quarter until 1:49 left in it, LeBron didn't score at all. A buzzer-beater by Ian Mahinmi at the end of the quarter put the Mavs up 81-72. They led for the last 22 minutes of the 48, for a final score of 105-95.

Nowitzki went straight to the locker room in tears, but came out for the trophy presentation. Which was a good idea, since he was named the Finals' Most Valuable Player.

Carlisle had won an NBA Championship as a player, with the 1986 Boston Celtics. He became one of the few men to win a title as a player and as a head coach. Kidd hasn't done that yet, but he won one as an assistant coach, with the 2020 Los Angeles Lakers -- featuring LeBron James.

The Mavericks went for broke in 2011, and they made it. But they may have used up all of their good luck: Although they have remained a Playoff perennial, they didn't win another Playoff series until 2022, by which point Nowitzki and Kidd were retired, and Kidd was already in the Basketball Hall of Fame. Nowitzki becomes eligible for the Hall in 2023. (UPDATE: He was elected that year.)

But the Heat were built to win multiple titles. They did win titles in 2012 and 2013, and reached the Finals again in 2014, their 4th straight trip. But they lost to the San Antonio Spurs. LeBron then went back to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and led them to 4 more straight Finals -- 8 straight Finals for him. But they only won 1. Then he went to the Lakers and won in 2020, beating the Heat, who were making the Finals without Wade for the 1st time.

UPDATE: The Mavericks do not have a team Hall of Fame, but they have retired numbers:12, for 1980s and '90 guard Derek Harper; 15, for 1980s guard Brad Davis; 22, for 1980s guard Rolando Blackman; 24, for 1980s forward Mark Aguirre, and 41 for 2000s and 2010s forward Dirk Nowitzki. Blackman, thus far, is the only Maverick who has been inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. Nowitzki and Kidd were named to the NBA's 75th Anniversary 75 Greatest Players.

*

June 12, 2011 was a Sunday. This was also the day that the HBO TV series Game of Thrones proved that no character was safe from death. I have a separate entry for that event.

The Stanley Cup Finals were between Games 5 and 6. The Boston Bruins went on to beat the Vancouver Canucks in 7 games. Football was out of season. And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 9-1 at Yankee Stadium. Freddy García was the winning pitcher. Derek Jeter went 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Alex Rodriguez went 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs. Curtis Granderson went 4-for-4 with 2 RBIs. But there were no home runs.

* The New York Mets beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-0 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. Chris Capuano was the winning pitcher. The Mets scored all their runs in the last 3 innings, including home runs in the 9th by Scott Hairston and José Reyes.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-3 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Ryan Howard went 3-for-3 with a walk and 3 RBIs.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 9-6 at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 14-1 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. The Red Sox got home runs * from David Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia and Adrián González. Jon Lester was the winning pitcher.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Florida Marlins, 5-1 at Sun Life Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-3 at Comerica Park in Detroit. Miguel Olivo hit 2 home runs. Ichiro Suzuki went 2-for-5 with an RBI. For the Tigers, Miguel Cabrera went 1-for-1 with 3 walks.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 5-4 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Texas Rangers, 6-1 at Target Field in Minneapolis.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Houston Astros, 4-1 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies, 10-8 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Washington Nationals beat the San Diego Padres, 2-0 at Petco Park in San Diego. Jordan Zimmerman pitched 7 innings of 4-hit shutout ball, striking out 10 and walking just 1, but he was not the winning pitcher. The Nats scored 2 runs in the 9th, on Danny Espinosa's sacrifice fly and Laynce Nix's single, so the winning pitcher was Todd Coffey, who pitched a perfect 8th. Drew Storen finished the 5-hit shutout.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Los Angeles Angels, 9-0 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Vin Mazzaro pitched 7 innings of 5-hit shutout ball, and Blake Wood finished the 5-hit shutout.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-2 at AT&T Park 

(now Oracle Park) in San Francisco.

June 7, 2023: Quebec Wildfire Causes Northeast U.S. Smog

Yankee Stadium, June 7, 2023.

The game scheduled for that night was postponed.

June 7, 2023: A wildfire in the Canadian Province of Québec causes a haze to spread south to the Northeastern U.S. The resulting low air quality produced warnings from America's National Weather Service, telling people to stay home if they didn't have to leave the house; and, if they must go back to wearing masks like they did during the COVID pandemic.

NOTE: While these entries are dated 2022, I decided to backdate the posting dates of events from 2023 onward to the same date in 2022.

The smog resulted in New York City's worst air quality since the 1960s. People not used to seeing the sky that color, the skyscrapers that shrouded in smog, or the air that dirty and hard to breathe, compared it to apocalyptic movies.

For those of us who do remember the 1970s and '80s, when the joke was that the crosswalk signs switched from saying "WALK" and "DON'T WALK" to "BREATHE" and "DON'T BREATHE," it was an unfortunate reminder of what life was like before the Environmental Protection Agency and its safeguards kicked in.

Major League Baseball postponed games set for that day at Yankee Stadium in New York and Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Both games were moved to the next day. The Yankees and the Chicago White Sox had already played in something of a haze the night before, and would again on Thursday, but both turned out to be not as bad as on Wednesday, June 7.

The WNBA postponed a game set for the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, despite it being an indoor facility. And a National Women's Soccer League game, set for the outdoor Red Bull Arena, just outside New York City in Harrison, New Jersey, was also postponed.

The New York Racing Association kept a close eye on the situation, since the Belmont Stakes was supposed to be held 3 days later, at Belmont Park in Elmont, Long Island. By that point, the air quality had improved to the point where it was not considered a danger to the horses, the riders, or the spectators, and the race was held as scheduled. Arcangelo won, ridden by Javier Castellano.

As of July 1, 2023, no deaths had been attributed to either the wildfires or the resulting smog.

*

June 7, 2023 was a Wednesday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Mets lost to the Atlanta Braves, 7-5 at Truist Park in the Atlanta suburb of Cumberland, Georgia.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Washington Nationals, 6-2 at Nationals Park in Washington. The D.C. area was not as badly affected by the smog as the New York and Philadelphia areas were.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Minnesota Twins, 2-1 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Miami Marlins beat the Kansas City Royals, 6-1 at LoanDepot Park in Miami.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Houston Astros, 3-2 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-5 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Cleveland Guardians beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-2 at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 8-6 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 10-2 at American Family Field in Milwaukee.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Texas Rangers, 1-0 at Globe Life Field in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. The only run of the game came in the top of the 8th inning, on a home run by Alec Burleson. Jon Gray went the distance for the Rangers, taking the loss. In contrast, it took 4 Cardinal pitchers to complete a 4-hit shutout: Jack Flaherty (6 innings), Jordan Hicks (7th inning, winning pitcher), Giovanny Gallegos (8th inning) and Ryan Helsley (9th inning, save).

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Colorado Rockies, 5-4 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Seattle Mariners, 10-3 at Petco Park in San Diego.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-2 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mike Trout. Shohei Ohtani did not, but did go 1-for-4 with a walk.

* As stated, the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox were postponed, resulting in a doubleheader the next day at the new Yankee Stadium. The White Sox won the opener, 6-5. The Yankees had a rally going in the bottom of the 9th, with the tying and winning runs on, but Isiah Kiner-Falefa was called out on a 3rd strike that was nowhere near the plate.

The Yankees won the nightcap of the "smoggleheader," 3-0. Billy McKinney hit his 1st home run as a Yankee. Rookie Randy Vásquez got his 1st major league win, taking a shutout into the 6th inning, allowing only 2 hits and a walk. And seemed upset when he was removed after getting into a little trouble, having thrown only 86 pitches. Ron Marinaccio ended the threat, and pitched the 7th and the 8th, allowing only a walk. Clay Holmes closed out the 2-hit shutout.

* And in the other game postponed from this date to the next, the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Detroit Tigers, 3-2 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. The Tigers tied the game in the top of the 8th, then took the lead in the top of the 9th. But the Phillies got a leadoff double from Bryce Harper, a walk from Trea Turner, a single from Bryson Scott, a tying sacrifice fly from Brandon Marsh, and a game-winning double from Kody Clemens, 1st baseman and son of Roger Clemens.

Game 3 of the NBA Finals was played at the Kaseya Center in Miami. The Denver Nuggets beat the Miami Heat, 109-94. The Nuggets went on to win the title in 5 games.

And the Stanley Cup Finals were between Games 2 and 3. The Vegas Golden Knights would beat the Florida Panthers, also in 5 games.