Friday, May 6th, 2011 at 2:01 pm  |  108 responses

Contest: Favorite NBA Childhood Moment?

Post an NBA memory and win dope apparel.

A great day of contests on the site. Our friends over at Swag Sports Apparel are looking to giveaway some free, limited edition t-shirts. All you have to do is open your favorite childhood NBA memory and tell us how it shaped you, posting a description in the comments section. It can be anything from an individual performance to team greatness and anything in between. We’ll filter through the comments and select 10 winners, giving away two of each of the following: The Black Kobe Motivation shirt, the White Kobe Motivation shirt, and the Miami Super Friends shirt. We will also give away four of the Mamba Blood shirts.

Swag Sports is dedicated to harnessing the creative energy of fans across the country to produce the best sports apparel anywhere. Some of the best stuff is sold out of duffel bags in front of stadiums, at arenas, and on campuses. Only 150 of each design has been printed, but we got you covered. For more info, check out Swag Sports on Facebook, Twitter, and their Tumblr.

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  • http://www.bulls.com Rigo Gonzalez

    It’s all love, E.
    Signed,
    Carlito Brigante

  • http://www.facebook.com/swagsports Swag Sports

    Thanks for all the great submissions so far! Please don’t forget to become a fan on Facebook, as we’ll be using that channel to fuel more giveaways, discount codes, and inform everyone of new products!

  • NateShow

    Gary Payton talking smack and abusing just about every point guard in the L! Loved it when he stole the ball from MJ in the finals, went the length of the floor, threw down, and got right up in his Airness’ face on the way back. The Glove, the ultimate badass.

  • Jaden Radcliffe

    My favorite childhood moment was when i was 11 years old watching the lakers play the kings in the 2002 western conference finals and the series was tied 2-2. The lakers where down by 2 points with about 15 seconds left and kobe takes the ball down the lane misses the floater and shaq gets the rebound misses hes shot also until the ball gets tipped out to the top of the key and robert horry was their to drain the 3 as time expires in vlade divacs face to take the 3-2 lead. greatest moment i remembered as a laker fan.

  • C-Mac

    AI game 1 of the 2001 finals. Taking down the undefeated Lakers in the first game, when nobody was giving them any chance. Iverson is the true underdog and I’ll always remember when he stepped over Tyron Lue. One of the defining games of an amazing career

  • Ali

    My favorite NBA childhood moment has to be the first game that I watched in 1999 (that I remember). It was the Clippers at Lakers. I was 5 years old at the time. I saw Shaq get a block and I was hooked for the next 12 years. Through 5 titles, a superstar dispute, a finals loss, and a couple of bad years, Im still with the Lakers looking for a 6th.

  • mike

    I remember slighly watching Jordan and the Bulls beat the suns in the ’93 finals with my mom when I was about 10. Then Jordan retired and I felt the loss of not being able to watch the great one. My favorite moment was the I’M Back magazine cover(SI) and watching 23 drop 55 on reggie and the pacers and feeling like I now had the chance to really watch the GOAT.

  • Daniel Dragicevich

    My favourite childhood memory was seeing Allen Iverson take his 76ers straight to the finals in 2001. Although they lost to the Lakers, being able to see my favourite player and that season’s MVP performing at his prime throughout the playoffs was priceless. He influenced me in ways unimaginable and the 2001 Playoffs will always be a supreme memory.

  • http://slamonline.com BigBlockMopar+Basketball

    Whoops, my last comment wasn’t an NBA memory. Sooo. . . . .

  • http://slamonline.com BigBlockMopar+Basketball

    At my Grandpa’s house in 2006, and watching LeBron James’ Playoff debut series vs. the Wizards, I forget what game # it was, but LeBron made the go ahead impossible layup offer Michael Ruffin to win the game.

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    My fondest childhood basketball memory happens to be during the ’99 lockout season, when the Knicks, an 8th seed, faced the first seeded Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs.
    I was only in elementary school at the time, and I watched every Knick game with my family in our apartment on 59th street. When my folks were busy, my brother and I and all the kids in our building would huddle around the doorman’s measly black-and-white, 12-inch TV screen in the lobby and watch NBA on NBC.
    The Knick/Heat rivalry had been brewing for a few years then, and it seemed as if the Heat had finally gotten the best of the Knicks. Sprewell had nowhere to go in the waning seconds of Game 5, being down by 1… But Allen Houston made one of the most incredible (and luckiest) shots in playoff history.
    It’s crazy thinking back on how important that ONE shot really was–ONE lucky bounce meant the difference between a first-round exit (to a rival, nonetheless) and a historic FINALS appearance. Crazy, I tell you.
    Most Knick fans nowadays remember New York basketball for the early ’90s–guys like Anthony Mason, Charles Oakley, John Starks, and, of course, Patrick Ewing. Of course, I dig those fellas too but for me, that ’99 run to the Finals will always be ingrained in my mind as the epitome of New York basketball.
    That moment not only made me a Knick fan to this day, but a New Yorker at heart, even though I haven’t seen the city in almost a decade.

  • Ronan

    Favorite NBA childhood moment? As an euro baller, not able to watch too many NBA games, I would say that NBA SUPERSTARS #3 defined my will to play basketball. Damn, we tried all of the moves on this Tape! Even 17 years later, we always scream “Thunder dan!” shooting threes…

  • Josh

    My favorite childhood memory is the memory of when I fell in love with NBA basketball for life. My dad was a big NBA fan, so when playoffs rolled around that is what we watched. I liked the games, they were exciting and the players were incredible, and during those playoffs, in 1999 when I was 8 years old, it happened.
    The Knicks and Pacers were in a tight game, the crowd was very loud and the overall atmosphere was just really intense. I had no choice but to be absolutely glued to the television. Skip to the final 12 seconds of the fourth quarter. Knicks have the ball, down by three. At that point, since I was 8, I didn’t really get how they were going to pull this off. In-bound the ball (barely), into Larry Johnson, and hold. The next moment is honestly an image I will always hold on to. Larry raising up to shoot that three, the whistle being blown, and then a celebration.
    I actually yelled when it happened, it was the most intense, exciting thing I think I had ever seen until that point. Got in trouble because my 1 year old sister was asleep, but I didn’t care. I had just witnessed, althought I probably didn’t realize the magnitude at the time, one of the great clutch shots in playoff history.

  • http://www.twitter.com/mrreggie reggie johnson

    My favorite NBA Childhood Moment was probably seeing SHAQ break down a goal. I had seen highlights of the dunk when he broke down the goal in New Jersey. But to actually be watching the Magic/Suns game when he broke the goal down was amazing. It was like watching a Superhuman play basketball.

  • http://SwagSports Andrew Davis

    2002 Playoffs….Big Shot Rob GW three over Sactown!

  • chris

    seeing the bobcats who i been a fan of ever since they came here beat the celtics on february 7th(im only 16) in person with my dad who i hadnt really been in contact with since he and my mom got divorced when i was 7. it was the 1st NBA game ive ever been to, mad exciting close game, happened a few days after my birthday, and my dad being there made it that much better. also, more than half the people here were celtics fan (bobcats dont have a big fanbase even in charlotte) so seeing all the bandwagon fans leave disappointed was dope. i doubt i’ll forget that.

  • Kr G.

    I was 12 at that time..2001 NBA Finals! My favorite player Allen iverson was killing the Lakers game 1! but after that we lost 3 straight games.. now remebering it makes me gloomy.. but still It was one of my favorite childhood nba moment!

  • sefos

    I’d have to say that my favorite moment came in one of the first NBA games i saw. It was 94, I was 13, and the knicks were playing the hornets. these were Ewing’s knicks. Starks’ knicks and oakley’s knicks. The moment that stuck with me was when oak was battling Alonzo for a rebound. naturally, they got tangled up and Zo ended up on the floor as a foul was called. He reached out his hand towards oak, gesturing for him to help him up. Oak took one look at Zo and just slapped his hand away, giving him a bad-ass stare as he did. that moment I became a lifelong knicks fan, and though they havent been nearly as tough since those days, I still am.

  • Todd

    Its gotta be the shoes!

  • http://www.facebook.com/joe.l.brewer3 BlackPhantom

    I’m 16 years old, I was brought up on the Lakers of the late 90s, you know the Shaq & Kobe killer combo. Well the year was 2002. I was watching the game in my grandmas house(also a Laker fan). It was one of the classic games from the Kings-Laker rivalry. I remember Kobe driving against Christie, and going for the layup,but he missed it. Then Shaq gets the offensive rebound tries another layup and misses that as well. Then theres a big scramble for the ball, it was tipped back to Horry, and bang! He hit one of the best clutch playoff shots in Lakers history. That’s probably my favorite NBA memory because it taught me that it takes more than two of the best players on the team. Sometimes they won’t be able to make the shot, and it falls down to that role player.

  • Yesse

    When the Lakers finally won the championship in 2001.

  • Russ M

    I was barely 10 yrs old but already a hoops junkie when my father took me and closest friend to the Garden to see the Knicks. We were seated in the LAST row of the Garden, behind the basket, but because it was the first game that I ever went to I was as excited as if we were courtside. The Knicks were getting blown out. Even at the age of 9, just as I do now, I always try to look at the bright side of things. With the Knicks down 18 and about 5 minutes left, I remember turning to my boy (like it was yesterday) and saying to him, “at least we can say that we got to see Lew Alcindor play in person”. At that point the Knicks went on a 19 – 0 run to pull off one of the greatest comebacks in history! A GREAT memory! And if I had the opportunity to somehow change my personal history and have witnessed that game from a courtside seat, I wouldn’t even consider it. Those type of memories are SUPPOSSED to be made from the last row.

  • HAMMER

    Watching the ’91 Playoffs was my 1st b-ball experience ever. I was 11 @ the time. And I instantly fell n luv w/the game and made me a Bulls fan 2 this day. Cuz prior 2 ’91, I was a soccer freak. Still am 2 this day. I got much luv 4 both sports. But ’91 got me hooked 2 the game

  • idrees

    last year. finals. game 1. i remember the 2008 finals, and that really scared me watching game 1, but i knew the black mamba, my fav ever player, wouldn’t let the celtics win game 1. and i was rite. kobe was snappin’ so hard, and i learned from him in that game and the whole series that if u wanna win, u gotta trust ur teammates. and from that game on i knew the lakers wouldn’t fail to repeat. and how many rings kobe has now?

  • miller126

    JASON “WHITE CHOCOLATE” WILLIAMS! Check youtube…

  • theMadvillain

    My favorite NBA memory is the first basketball game I ever watched. I was 9 and I had never played or watched basketball at all before. It was the Lakers vs. the Bucks and it was the NBA on NBC. I don’t even remember the outcome of the game, but what I do remember is instantly becoming a Lakers fan and Kobe becoming my favorite basketball player from that day on.
    From watching their first three peat on a ten inch TV on mute (way past my Atlantic Time Zone bedtime) to their current second round struggles against the Mavs, I can say that I’ll always be a Lakers fan because of that first game I watched when I was 9.

  • fernandogarcia

    im only 15…. so my favorite moment.. living in Miami……”im gonna take my talents to south beach”

  • chris

    when Jordan dunked on Mutombo and wagged his finger at him. Im a Hawks fan, and Mutombo was on the Hawks then but I still thought that was cool. It was a nice dunk too.

  • http://gmail.com z

    Man I was startin to worry 4 a minute that I might be the last fan of the answer left! As a 12 year old in 01 I saw him step over lue and even then I knew that I had just seen the most epic game by one player in the postMJ-on-the-bulls era. That night Al represents success against all odds for for poor people all around the world

  • http://slamonline BossTerry

    Knicks V.S. Rockets in the hard-fought finals, with Olojuwon getting his 1st ring. Then the following year my main man Clyde Drex and co. battling Orlando with a young Shaq, and Houston proving good guys don’t ALWAYS finsh last..

  • http://slamonline BossTerry

    Houston repeating was a great memory, but my absolute favorite memory was this- I was a bit of a chubby kid who would rather play nintendo or with G.I. Joes than ANYTHING sports. It was summertime and I was about to start middle school, and was home alone. My parents had left the tv on before leaving for work, and I glanced at the tv to see some guy with the name “Malone” on the back of his shirt running across the court with noone else in sight, instead of dunking or laying the ball up, he just bounced it off the glass, and some other guy with the name “Pippen” on his back flew in, caught the ball, and threw it down with force.. It was the 1992 dream team, and from that moment on, I was in my driveway everyday using the basketball hoop I had just gotten in April for my birthday (at the time, I didn’t know why my parents would get me such a b-day gift). I began collecting b-ball cards and the Mcdonalds cups, each one with a different Dream Team player on it. I became familiar with the players,teams, and started playing competively (mostly pick-up games in my neighborhood) since then, basketball has been my biggest passion..

  • r2j

    Favorite childhood memory was when me and my grand-dad saw Jordan and the Bulls win their 1st championship B4 my grandpa passed. Honorable mention, the 3 peat and seeing Reggie Miller always destroyed the Knicks.

  • blake saiontz

    My favorite childhood memory was when i played for pikesville in Maryland when i was 9. In the semifinals of the state championship i got 25 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds. We went onto win the championship and i got the mvp award and it was the best feeling i’ve ever had in my life. It opened up so many opportunities but when my dad made me stay home it matured me a lot.

  • Jake Munckton

    Derrick Rose is my favourite player so the best moment is one of his. I was watching the epic first-round playoff series of Chicago vs Boston Game 6. Dying seconds of triple overtime, Chicago were up by 1 and Boston ha the ball. Rondo dribbled, spun around and shot a fadeaway only to have it rejected by Derrick Rose who literally saved the game with that block and that play is what i believe will make that playoff series remembered as the best series ever.

  • idrees

    nevermind my first comment my REAL favorite NBA moment was game 7 of the 2010 finals. kobe’s shooting was way off, but yet he was snappin’. my favorite player got 15 boards, and went crazy on free throw shooting (in a good way). that moment the final buzzer went, i went crazy, so overjoyed, shouting at the top of my lungs, “YES! YES! LAKERS WIN!!”. it was probably the best moment of my life so far, and i learned that if u can’t help ur team one way, just try another way, and it’ll work out.

  • Sakuragi10

    My NBA moment must be Vince Carter won the Slam Dunk Champ since I lived in T.O., that’s the only moment I can cheer for the Raptors, with VC & McGrady swagger move, the the most amazing is the hang time VC has, 1/2 man 1/2 amazing, between legs, 360, half of the arm went in to basketball, that’s why I bought the Red/White And1, hope I can have the swagger move.

  • sideburn2go

    My favorite NBA moment came in 1993 when I was 4 years old and won a contest to be the ball boy at the Minnesota Timberwolves game against the Lakers. I got to bring my entire family to the game, deliver the ball at the beginning, go in the locker room after the game, and drive the old timberwolve’s blimp. I remember just being in awe at these players, how tall they all were compared to me. Thurl Bailey even lifted me onto his shoulders before the game started. The timberwolves weren’t very good that year, and we have had some tough years since but I have always been and will always be a lifetime t-wolves fan because of that game.

  • Taran

    My favourite childhood memory was not a certain play or a team, my favourite childhood moment was a big-hearted player. Nate “Tiny” Archibald was not the tallest or biggest player to play in the NBA, but he was a player who tried hard and was a team player. I didn’t watch Nate when he actually played but I watched his past games in the 90′s. This Hall of Famer played the game we love today with a passion. He inspired and shaped me quite a bit, because I felt that I wasn’t the tallest and if he could do it, why couldn’t I. He may not go down in history as being the best basketball player, but he made a difference for one young boy and that makes all the difference.

  • http://twitter.com/therealjlimsd Justin Lim

    When it comes to my favorite NBA childhood moment, it would be when I moved to the Philippines from San Diego at the age of 12.

    As a kid moving to another country, I thought it was the “end of everything” for me. Having access to watch NBA games on Star Sports, weekly editions of NBA Action and buying issue after issue of SLAM, helped me keep sane and in touch with what was going on back home. I even remember writing to SLAM via email a few times and having a couple of my letters make it to print.

    Sharing the love of the NBA with other basketball fanatics in another country as a kid is something that I will always cherish and I just want to say thanks to the NBA and SLAM for that.

  • ronnie

    I was turning ten and my favorite player (and maybe person in the world) michael jordan hit the game winner in game 6 of the 98 finals on my birthday! I felt like he did it for me

  • http://angelmaker666.deviantart.com ishaan

    Definitely, the 1997 slam dunk contest. I was an innocent little child at the tender age of 6 when I saw the unleashed fury of Kobe Bryant. The Black Mamba truly came out that day, as he clinched the unbelievably exciting dunk contest with an in between the legs slam that I just couldn’t get out of my head. Ever since then I have been a die hard Kobe fan. Never really grew out of that unabashed power and grace that Kobe has in his game. It truly is artistry in motion.

  • e

    had to be the flu game mike jordans legendary performance i was in 7th grade had school the next day and stayed up wayyyyy late to see the end of history in the making

  • Kenneth

    My favorite NBA childhood moment was when LeBron James scored 28 of the last 29 Cavalier points against the Detroit Pistons to take a 3-2 series lead in the Eastern Conference Finals and eventually would win game 6 and lead Cleveland to the NBA FINALS. I consider this memorable because putting the team in your shoulders and willing the team to get a W is hard and that during this game LeBron was just in the zone, just putting up a scoring barrage in the Palace. Detroit just can’t stop the KING!

  • Scott

    My favourite NBA childhood memory would have to be the movie Space Jam (which came out when I was 7) – it completely shaped me as a young, impressionable child. Jordan was simply inspirational, and the movie gave me a great insight into the colourful personalities of the game’s top players during the 90s – Barkley, Ewing, LJ, etc.

    I went into the theatre a Looney Toons fan, and came out a huge NBA basketball fan. Since then, the NBA has been my religion and I’ve been a SLAM subscriber since before ish 50!

  • DERRICmoody

    my favorite NBA memory is when Reggie Miller scored 8 points in 11 seconds, to win the fifth game playoff series oner the knicks in 2006

  • KoBynum716

    Starbury’s face on the assist to STAT.

  • Brandon

    My all time favorite NBA moment is when my underdog Sacramento Kings faced the LA Lakers in the 2002 WCF and came so close to making it to the
    NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history. Chris Webber, Mike Bibby, Peja Stojocavic are still some of my favorite players

  • Kevin

    Favorite childhood NBA moment would definitely be watching Allen Iverson step over Tyronn Lue during the 2001 finals…I fell in love with basketball that day.

  • http://yahoo sean

    Being a lifelong Kevin Garnett fan, my favorite moment in the NBA didn’t happen in my childhood, but in 2008 when I was 25 and witnessed KG finally win the NBA Championship. For years I defended him in every best PF debate and I always lost to Tim Duncan when it came to rings and to finally watch him win after languishing in Minny all those years was a great feeling. I felt like my big brother won I was so happy for him. To pick a specific moment it would have to be in the first half of the chip-clinching game 6. KG was coming off a subpar game and everyone was saying he needed to be aggressive for Boston to win. He came out on fire and when he received a little drop pass in the middle and went up and made that 1-handed double pump bank shot, plus the foul, I knew the ring was his! So thats my favorite NBA moment.

  • http://yahoo sean

    In 2007 when Tim Duncan,Tp, and Manu won their franchis ea fourth championship when they swept the cavaliers and i was there when lebron had a monster dunk on Tim which didnt make me happy and im still in my child hood and slam is my favorite magazine and ive already witnessed so much for my favorite team and i love bbal more than anything.

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