This was the first major professional sports championship for the state of Arizona and the first for a team ( in the four major North American professional sports leagues ) owned or controlled by Colangelo, whose basketball Suns made it to the NBA Finals in 1976 and 1993 but lost both times.

Including Super Bowl XLII, Marv has called the play-by-play of six Super Bowls, NBA Finals and seven Stanley Cup Finals.

Marv Albert was the lead play-by-play broadcaster for the NBA on NBC for most of its run from 1990-2002, calling every NBA Finals during that timeframe except for 1998, 1999 and 2000.

Marv resumed his previous position for the 2000-2001 season and called Game 4 of the 2002 NBA Finals which was the final NBA telecast on NBC.

Bob Costas took over for Albert on the basketball side in the 1997 – 98 season before stepping down after the 2000 NBA Finals for Albert's return.

Category: NBA Finals MVP Award winners

Los Angeles Lakers Magic Johnson and Boston Celtics Larry Bird in Game Two of the 1985 NBA Finals at Boston Garden.

In 1984 they played against each other for the first time in the NBA Finals.

The San Antonio Spurs won their first championship, and first by a former ABA team, by beating the New York Knicks, who were the first, and to this date, the only, eighth seed to ever make the NBA Finals.

Kobe Bryant won his first Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award award in his 13th season after leading the Lakers to their first NBA championship since the departure of Shaquille O ' Neal.

At the end of that season, the Celtics and the Lakers renewed their rivalry from 2008 when they met again in the NBA Finals for a record 12th time.

The Mavericks, led by Dirk Nowitzki ( the eventual NBA Finals MVP ), took the series in six games.

According to an independent study by Ronald Beech of Game 6 of the NBA 2002 Western Conference Finals between the Lakers and Kings, although the refs increased the Lakers ' chances of winning through foul calls during the game, there was no collusion to fix the game.

The Boston Celtics have won the most championships with 17 NBA Finals wins.

* Magic Johnson and Larry Bird face against each other in three NBA Finals ': ' 84 ,' 85, and ' 87.

** John Paxson's 3-point shot in Game 6 of the NBA Finals helps the Chicago Bulls secure a 99 – 98 win over the Phoenix Suns, and their third consecutive championship.

* June 4 – The Boston Celtics defeat the Phoenix Suns 128-126 in triple overtime in Game 5 of the NBA Finals at the Boston Garden.

His final game was Game 4 of the 2002 NBA Finals where the Lakers defeated the New Jersey Nets to win their third consecutive NBA championship.

Since entering the league, Miami has fielded squads that have made the playoffs 16 out of 24 seasons, capturing nine division titles, three Eastern Conference Championships, and two NBA Championships, defeating the Dallas Mavericks 4 – 2 in the 2006 NBA Finals and the Oklahoma City Thunder 4 – 1 in the 2012 NBA Finals.

In reality, as stated by Steve Snake, creator of NBA Jam, NBA Jam T. E, and Mortal Kombat II, these games were seriously pushing the limits of the console even though they looked like minor enhancements.

Since their last Cup win in 1983, they are currently the only team of the four major North American sports leagues ( NHL, NFL, NBA, & MLB ) to win 4 consecutive championships, and hold the NHL record for most consecutive playoff series ' wins at 19 ( 1980 Playoffs-1984 Playoffs ).

In 2009, the Phoenix Mercury became the first professional basketball team to feature advertisements on their uniform when they sold an ad to LifeLock Insurance on the front of their jerseys, leading many people to wonder if ads on NBA uniforms were coming soon.

The supplier of the uniforms for the league, Adidas, upgraded all teams to new high-tech designs, much like they did for the NBA prior to the start of their season.

Kevin Durant dunking against the Washington Wizards on March 11, 2011On July 2, 2008, upon settlement of a lawsuit with the city of Seattle, the Seattle SuperSonics announced they would relocate to Oklahoma City on July 3, and begin play at Oklahoma City's Ford Center in the 2008 – 2009 NBA season.

The Islanders were still far behind on the $ 10 million they had paid in startup costs, and the expenses associated with moving the Nets to the NBA threw Boe's finances into a tailspin.

ABA officials told potential owners that they could get an ABA team for half of what it cost to get an NBA expansion team at the time.

Although they finished January with 10 wins and 5 losses, they had already lost to the defending Champions San Antonio Spurs twice, twice to the Phoenix Suns, and in a nationally televised broadcast lost by 36 points to their eventual opponent in the 2006 NBA Finals the Dallas Mavericks.

O ' Neal also proclaimed during the Championship parade that they would win the NBA repeat, later clarifying this promise applied only if Wade were present and healthy for the ride through the playoffs.

The Heat finished the regular season with a 44 – 38 record and faced the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the 2007 NBA Playoffs, to whom they lost 4 – 0 in the best of seven series.

Entering the 2010-2011 season with nearly $ 48 million in salary cap space, the Heat caused a major power shift during the blockbuster 2010 NBA Free Agency, adding Chris Bosh and LeBron James with local superstar Dwyane Wade, whom they had re-signed to a six-year, $ 107. 59 million contract.

Despite O ' Neal's presence, the Magic missed the 1993 NBA Playoffs because they were tied with the Indiana Pacers for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with the Pacers holding the tiebreaker.

They traded Vince Carter, Marcin Gortat and Mickaël Piétrus to Phoenix for Hedo Türkoğlu ( who led them into the 2009 NBA Finals when they lost 4 – 1 against the Los Angeles Lakers ), Jason Richardson and Earl Clark.

But they were ousted in six games by the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the 2011 NBA Playoffs, the first time head coach Stan Van Gundy was eliminated early in the playoffs.

The Magic were also the only NBA team to wear black sneakers and socks in all their games, a tradition that began upon the hiring of Stan Van Gundy in 2007 ; however they wore white sneakers and socks at home in all of the 2008 – 09 season and early in the 2009 – 10 season before switching back to black sneakers and socks.

Originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA.

There, they defeated the Houston Rockets, led by future 76er Moses Malone, in six games to advance to the NBA Finals.

That led to the 1977 – 78 motto of " We owe you one ", which would ultimately backfire when they lost in the playoffs that season to the Washington Bullets, who went on to win the NBA championship.

In the 1980 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, they lost, four games to two.

Although they lost in the NBA Finals, the 76ers began the 1982 – 83 season with great momentum.

All they needed now was Moses to lead them to the promised land of the NBA championship.

Since 2006, the NBA has faced Euroleague teams in exhibition matches in the NBA Europe Live Tour and since 2009 in the Euroleague American Tour.

In the first round, the Bulls again faced Miami, the defending NBA champions.

Advancing to their third consecutive NBA Finals, the Pistons faced the Portland Trail Blazers.

In the NBA Finals the Pistons faced the San Antonio Spurs.

They faced the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals, which they won in seven games.

They swept the playoffs up till the NBA Finals, and faced the Detroit Pistons again.

They faced off once again in the 2010 NBA Finals which the Lakers won in 7 games.

From 1999 to 2004 the clubs ' rivalry was often considered the premier rivalry in the NBA, and each time the clubs faced each other in the playoffs the winner advanced to the NBA Finals.

Shortly thereafter, Hasselhoff attended the May 26, 2006, Mavericks home playoff game where they faced the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Western Conference Finals.

Boston faced the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2008 NBA Finals, renewing the long rivalry between the two teams.

They faced off against the Lakers in a rematch of the 2008 NBA Finals, and took a 3-2 lead heading back to Los Angeles.

When the Sixers faced the Lakers in the 2001 NBA Finals Billy Penn was not decorated.

This actually happened in the 2006 NBA Playoffs when the two best teams in the Western Conference, the San Antonio Spurs and the Dallas Mavericks, both from the Southwest Division, faced one another in the Western Conference Semifinals while the 3rd seed, the Northwest Division-leading Denver Nuggets, had fewer wins than the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th seeds. The NBA proposed and approved of the current format to ensure that the best two teams of a conference can meet no earlier than the Conference Finals.

They faced the Denver Nuggets in the first round losing after five brutal games, including 21 and 29-point blowouts, as well as a 58-point loss in game 4, which tied the worst margin of defeat in NBA postseason history.

Selvy's best known game in the NBA is probably Game 7 of the 1962 NBA Finals in which Selvy's Lakers faced a four point deficit at the hands of Boston Celtics in the final minute of the game's fourth quarter.

From 1999 – 04 the rivalry was often considered the premier rivalry in the NBA, and each time they faced each other in the playoffs the winner advanced to the NBA Finals.