Legendary sportscaster Greg Gumbel died Friday at the age of 78, and following the announcement of the news, tributes poured in regarding his work in a variety of areas, including March Madness, the NFL and the Olympics.
Gumbel spent most of his 50+ year career at CBS, but from 1994-1998 he worked for NBC, and it was during this time that he provided the call for the best moment in Utah Jazz history, as the NBA History X account observed Saturday.
On NBA duty for the 1997 Western Conference Finals between the Jazz and Houston Rockets, Gumbel had the play-by-play assignment for Game 6 on May 29 in Houston (local TV stations did not have the rights to it).
The Jazz led the series 3-2 and thus were looking to close it out in Game 6 and earn their first trip to the NBA Finals in franchise history, where they would face the Chicago Bulls after the Bulls closed out the Eastern Conference Finals the night before against the Miami Heat.
With the game tied at 100, Jazz forward Karl Malone grabbed a rebound off a missed Clyde Drexler shot and the Jazz called timeout with 2.8 seconds remaining to draw up a final play.
As the teams came out of the timeout, Gumbel noted that “(Bryon) Russell will inbound the ball,” and Mario Elie was guarding him. The other four Jazz players on the floor — Malone, John Stockton, Jeff Hornacek and Antoine Carr — were all bunched together at the free throw line, with the Rockets’ four other players there as well.
As Russell got the ball from the referee, Jazz players began peeling different directions, with Malone acting as a screener. Stockton ran toward half-court, to give Russell an easier inbounds pass from between half-court and the Jazz’s 3-point line, but it also gave him momentum toward a 3-point shot once he caught the ball and ran back toward Utah’s hoop.
Color commentator Bill Walton recognized that the Rockets had lost Stockton and said, “Uh-oh.” As Stockton began rising up for a shot with still over two seconds on the clock, out came Gumbel’s iconic call:
“Stockton. Open. 3.” Then as the ball swished through the hoop, “Got it! John Stockton sends the Utah Jazz to the NBA Finals!”
More than 27 years removed from what became known as “The Shot,” it remains the best moment in Jazz history, as the team lost to the Bulls in the Finals 15 days later and then again in 1998 and hasn’t been back since.