Viewed in
2010
Premise
Part of ESPN's 30 for 30 series, director Dan Klores relived the legendary NBA playoff battles between the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks in the mid 1990's.
Loved
The great testimonies from Reggie Miller, Cheryl Miller, and Spike Lee.
Disliked
Old basketball footage stretched out.
Thoughts
Having grown up with the NBA at the time, I do cherish 1990's basketball. I was very happy that Klores wanted to revisit the most dominant non-Michael Jordan story of the decade.
This was a very entertaining documentary. Not only did it explore the key moments in those two years, the film took the time to explore the history that led up to those moments. For example, it examined how each city viewed the opposing teams, and it interviewed the key players that drafted Patrick Ewing and Reggie Miller. I was a bit young back then, so the history lesson was educational.
A pleasant surprise was the detailed Cheryl Miller angle. I knew Reggie's sister was legendary, and suspected that her success played a part in his career. But it was another thing to hear Reggie and Cheryl explain just how big her shadow was, and just big of a chip on his shoulder it was. Watching family footage of Cheryl dominating high school and colleges games gave me an appreciation of her skills and contributions to the game.
I adored the stories, like the dynamics between Reggie and Spike Lee, Reggie and John Starks, Spike Lee and Indiana fans. They showed hilarious footage of Pacers fans taunting Spike in ways that would make the racially-sensitive blush. Note how when Reggie, Spike, the Knicks players reminisced, you could see a twinkle in their eyes; 15 years later, both sides still loved to trash talk about those games. Captured video and audio of Spike trash-talking during those games was icing on the cake.
Like other fans, I still remember Reggie's inhuman "eight points in nine seconds" in '94. Thankfully this film indulged me with a five minute breakdown of that ridiculous sequence. Knicks fans might want to turn away from that segment.
It was a joy to watch those games (especially the endings) back in the day, and it was still a joy to relive it now in this excellent, re-watchable documentary. I recommend sticking around after the credits.
What I would change
Left the old footage in their original 4x3 aspect ratio. I know they wanted to fill up the wide screen, but I hate distorted footage.
