(dramatic music)
- What happened that
night, forever changed
what we thought was possible in sports.
- It was the type of thing you
wouldn't see in today's game,
but that era was like the Wild West.
(dramatic music)
- You know, it was 25 years ago,
and I'm honestly just
ready to put it behind me.
- It was Sunday January 17th 1993.
My dad got us floor seats
to see The Chicago Bulls
take on the Utah Jazz.
And right from the tip off,
we could tell this game
was gonna be different.
- First of all, the
ball was not regulation,
I mean it was way too bouncy
and maybe a little too big.
- I actually became concerned,
because you only had
two players from either
team bother to play.
You had Karl Malone and John
Stockton from the Utah Jazz,
versus Scottie Pippen and, wait for it,
Y'all, Horace Grant!
(laughing)
Like, not even Michael Jordan.
Keep in mind, the whole team was there,
they just never left the bench.
- Then, John Stockton takes
off from the free throw line
with Horace on his back and
dunks in Scottie's face.
- We didn't even know
John Stockton could dunk,
he's a layup guy, but here he is,
practically touching the rafters!
- If you look back at the tape,
you can see the shock on my face.
I was seriously like,
you know, like.
It was crazy!
- At this point, I was
already saying to myself,
this is the craziest thing I've ever seen.
And that's when I noticed,
their heads must have swollen three sizes!
- So big headed Scottie Pippen
is tearing down the court
like he's in turbo mode, and
just as he pulls up for three,
Stockton throws this wild elbow,
sending Scottie flying across the court!
- The refs were atrocious!
- I mean they was only one
ref there to begin with,
and after the jump ball,
he literally disappeared!
- I mean, I might have missed
a few calls here or there,
but ultimately, it's not the refs
who decide the outcome of the game.
The players do that.
- It was a bloodbath!
The Jazz were taking
shots fully across court,
that were going in!
- Then, in the third quarter,
to this day, I can't explain it.
It was like the whole world just
paused.
Until immediately after
school the next day.
- The game paused for
almost twenty four hours!
- But no one in the stadium left.
We were so invested in the game,
that we didn't move an
inch, for an entire day!
- And up until this point,
it was a complete shut out!
The Jazz held the Bulls
scoreless for three quarters.
That type of game, you
leave early to beat traffic.
(laughs) But not this crowd.
I mean it was a crazy time
for sports as a whole.
We had just seen John Madden
call the highest scoring game
in NFL history.
- Hell!
We had to watch eight foot Mike Tyson
lose his dream fight to a kid
way below his weight class!
- And when the game started up again,
the crowd was as enthused as ever.
- It was the only time I've seen a crowd
cheer just as much for their home team
as they did for the rivals.
- At this point, the Jazz had
hit their last eighty shots,
But then, the craziest thing happened,
Scottie Pippen caught on fire!
- [Announcer] He's hitting up!
- When that game ended,
that was the first,
and only instance I can
recall, where neither team
took a time out, and neither
team ran an actual play.
Every possession was either a steal,
or just a quick drive to the basket.
- The vibe afterwards was
mostly disappointment,
but also proud to have
witnessed something special.
- You know, now that I'm thinking of it,
there was hardly any black people there.
