The Greatest Men’s Basketball Performances Of All Time

This station is portion of a larger database looking astatine immoderate of nan apical individual performances successful each of sports history. Check retired nan afloat database here.

When two-way awesome Shohei Ohtani turned his slugging slump into nan top crippled successful shot history successful Game 4 of nan National League Championship Series, it started a chat successful nan Sports Illustrated newsroom: What are immoderate of nan different apical individual performances successful sports? And really do they comparison to Ohtani’s 10 strikeouts and 3 location runs?

Here are our picks for nan NBA and men’s assemblage hoops.

Atop Magic Johnson’s lengthy database of accomplishments is 1 that makes a compelling lawsuit for nan top accomplishment successful NBA history. After losing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar precocious successful Game 5 of nan 1980 NBA Finals, nan Lakers flew to Philadelphia faced pinch trying to adjacent retired nan 76ers without nan reigning MVP.

Who would capable nan spread astatine center? How astir Johnson, Los Angeles’s flashy, 6' 9" rookie constituent defender who started successful nan middle, parented each 5 positions and vanished nan crippled pinch 42 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists. It was nan first of 5 championships successful nan Magic Era and nan commencement of a dynasty that went by 1 name: Showtime.

Greater than Ohtani? Close, fixed nan business (Finals close-out game) but I’d opportunity no.  — Chris Mannix

Christian Laettner’s (center) buzzer-beater remains 1 of nan astir iconic moments successful March Madness history. / Sports Illustrated

Men’s assemblage hoops: Christian Laettner’s 31-point Elite Eight crippled successful 1992

All it took to triumph nan 1992 NCAA tourney East region title and gain a Final Four berth was perfection. Christian Laettner supplied it. In Duke’s classic, 104–103 overtime triumph complete Kentucky, Laettner made each 10 of his section extremity attempts and each 10 of his free throws. He vanished pinch 31 points, scoring nan Blue Devils’ past 8 successful nan last 2 minutes. The last changeable is etched successful history—the 75-foot walk from Grant Hill, nan turnaround buzzer-beating jumper, nan euphoric dash downcourt, nan Philadelphia Spectrum awash successful daze and awe.

But his penultimate section extremity was much difficult, a double-clutch banker while double-teamed pinch nan changeable timepiece moving out. Everything earlier nan cleanable ending was flawless, too. Well, possibly not everything. Laettner sewage a method foul for stomping connected nan thorax of Kentucky’s Aminu Timberlake, but avoided an ejection. That officiating restraint altered nan people of assemblage hoops history. Duke won nan crippled by nan slimmest of margins and went connected to repetition arsenic nationalist champions.

Greater than Ohtani? No. But it was unthinkable to watch. — Pat Forde

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