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.

In 1998, the NBA owners began a lockout which lasted 191 days and was settled on January 18, 1999.

As a result of this lockout the 1998 – 99 NBA season was reduced from 82 to 50 games ( 61 % of a normal season ), and the All-Star Game was cancelled.

* Dutchman Rik Smits ( 1988 second overall pick, 1998 NBA All-Star, played 12 years for the Indiana Pacers )

This will mark the first time since 1998 that the Magic will wear an alternate uniform, though in recent years the Magic's alternate uniforms were worn as throwback uniforms as part of the NBA Hardwood Classics program.

Chicago finished the regular season with an NBA league-best 62 – 20 record and clinched the first seed in the Eastern Conference for the first time since 1998.

Led by coach Jerry Sloan, who took over for Frank Layden in 1988, they became one of the powerhouse teams of the 1990s, culminating in two NBA Finals appearances in 1997 and 1998, where they lost both times to the Chicago Bulls, led by Michael Jordan.

San Antonio won an NBA Championship in 2007 after defeating Utah in a series, while Utah advanced to the NBA Finals in 1998 after defeating San Antonio in a series.

Owner Peter Pocklington had explored moving the Oilers to Minnesota during the 1990s, and in 1998 Pocklington almost made a deal to sell the team to Leslie Alexander, the owner of the Houston Rockets of the NBA who would have moved the team to Houston, Texas.

* 1998 NBA All-Star Game

Former University of Kentucky basketball star Jeff Sheppard, the Most Outstanding Player of the 1998 NCAA Tournament who briefly played in the NBA, now lives in London.

He played for the Raptors from 1996 – 1998, before being traded to the New York Knicks in exchange for Charles Oakley ; after which the Knicks became the first 8th seed to make it to the NBA Finals during the 1998 – 99 NBA season.

He served as an assistant coach for a high school team in Arizona for two years before he returned to the NBA as a coach with the SuperSonics for the 1998 – 99 season.

Duncan was voted to the 1998 NBA All-Star Game by coaches.

The Spurs qualified for the 1998 NBA Playoffs as the fifth seed, but Duncan had a bad first half in his first playoff game against the Phoenix Suns, causing Suns coach Danny Ainge to play Duncan with less defensive pressure.

Three of the games of the 1993 NBA Finals between the Suns and the Chicago Bulls, including game six where John Paxson hit a last second 3 point shot to clinch the Bulls ' Championship, were played there, as was one of the three 1998 WNBA Finals games and two ArenaBowl games, and some games of the 2007 and 2009 WNBA Finals.

Prior to the 1998 NBA season the capacity was reduced to 19, 980 from the original 21, 400 spectators.

He had another short stint in the NBA in lockout-shortened 1998 – 99 with the San Antonio Spurs, but received very little court time and was injured for the latter part of the season.

They then reached the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 1998, and faced the Miami Heat.

In the lockout-shortened 1998 – 99 season, the Pacers won the Central Division with a 33 – 17 record and swept the Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers before falling to the Knicks in a six-game Eastern Conference Finals.

In the 1998 offseason, after falling just short in the Western Conference Finals, the Stars added what they believed was the final piece toward winning a championship: star goalscoring winger, Brett Hull.

In 1998, 2007, and 2009, the Mercury went to the WNBA Finals ; they lost to Houston in 1998, but won the title in 2007 and 2009 over Detroit and Indiana, respectively.

The band also won the National Brass Band Championship Finals in 1997, 1998 and 2010, and the European Championships in 1998.

At the onset of the WNBA in 1997, she went to the Phoenix Mercury, for whom she played in the Finals in 1998, losing to the Houston Comets.

Her first World Cup race was a giant slalom at the World Cup Finals at Crans-Montana, Switzerland, ( on 15 March 1998 ).

The Capitals reached the 1998 Stanley Cup Finals, which they lost to the Detroit Red Wings, the only finals appearance in franchise history.

Malone appeared in the playoffs every season in his career, including three NBA Finals: in 1997 and 1998 with the Jazz and in 2004 with the Lakers.

The Jazz once again were seated at the top of the Western Conference, and in the 1998 playoffs they defeated the Rockets, Spurs, and Lakers ( via a sweep ) en route to their second consecutive Finals appearance.

In Game 5 of the 1998 Finals, Malone led the Jazz in scoring with 39 points, and the Jazz beat the Bulls 83 – 81 in Chicago.

He led Utah to the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998 but lost to the Chicago Bulls both times.

He also took the Jazz to the NBA Finals twice, losing in the 1997 and 1998 championships, both times to his old team, the Michael Jordan-led Bulls.

The facility has also hosted the 2001 U. S. Figure Skating Championships, the 1996 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, the 1996 and 2000 US Gymnastics Trials, the 1998 and 2004 NCAA Men's Frozen Four, the 1996 NHL All-Star Game, the 2008 and 2010 NBA Finals, and the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals.

Since the breakup of the Chicago Bulls championship roster in the summer of 1998, the Western Conference has dominated, with the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs combining to win the title in nine of fourteen years.

The March 14, 1998, game against the Chicago Bulls set the Spurs ' current regular-season home attendance record.

The conference became the largest in Division I-A with the re-admittance of Marshall and Northern Illinois and addition of the University at Buffalo's Bulls in 1997 and 1998, respectively.

He won three straight championships with the Bulls from 1996 to 1998 as a teammate of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Toni Kukoč and Dennis Rodman.

Following the breakup of the championship Bulls in 1998, Chicago did a sign-and-trade deal with Longley, sending him to the Phoenix Suns for Mark Bryant, Martin Müürsepp, Bubba Wells, and a conditional first-round draft pick.

* Biskind, Peter ( 1998 ) Easy Riders, Raging Bulls.

The company then went on to reap additional profits by again licensing the phrase to merchandisers when the Bulls again won three consecutive NBA championships from 1996 through 1998, as well as when the New York Yankees won three straight World Series championships from 1998 through 2000 and when the Lakers won three straight NBA championships from 2000 through 2002.

In the 1998 – 99 season, the 67's lost to the eventual OHL champion Belleville Bulls in the second round of the playoffs.

Ashby was also discussed, and his output as director examined, at length in Peter Biskind's seminal book Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-And Rock ' N Roll Generation Saved Hollywood ( 1998 ).

* Biskind, Peter ( 1998 ) Easy Riders, Raging Bulls.

Jordan's shot has been dubbed as the " greatest feat " in his career, and the Bulls ' 1998 title was their third consecutive championship and sixth since 1991.

In addition to more than 80 Bulls and Blackhawks games each year, the United Center has hosted other sporting events such as University of Illinois basketball, the Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament ( from the first tournament in 1998 to 2001, then in odd-numbered years from 2003 to 2007, before the tournament moved permanently to Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis ), the Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament ( hosted four times, including 2011 ), the Roundball Classic, and the Great Eight Classic.

The arena was the Bulls ' home during their second run of three consecutive championships, hosting the,, and 1998 NBA Finals.

The Bulls won the 1996 and 1997 series in the sixth game at home, but won the 1998 series at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, which is now known as the EnergySolutions Arena.

Gordon helped lead the Bulls to their first playoff appearance since the Jordan era ended in 1998.

His reputation was established as head coach of the Chicago Bulls from 1989 through 1998, during which Chicago won six NBA titles.

The Durham Bulls joined the International League in 1998 and were the only expansion franchise joining the league that played in a league below the Triple-A level.