u pregledu dekade na izmaku casopis sports ilustrejtid je objavio par stvari za koje misle da su obiljezile prethodne godine.

BEST POSTSEASON GAME: Lakers-Kings, Game 7, 2006 Western Conference finals
Because these were the league's two best teams, this was viewed as a winner-take-all game for the championship (the Lakers went on to sweep the Nets in the Finals). „The Kings were the better team tonight, they deserved to win, but somehow we did,'' Phil Jackson said after the Lakers' 112-106 overtime victory in Sacramento. The Lakers trailed in the last minute of regulation and the final two minutes of overtimebefore finishing off the most exciting postseason series of the decade. Shaq (35 points and 13 rebounds) and Kobe (30 and 10) combined to play 102 minutes to overcome a clutch performance by Kings guard Mike Bibby (29 points).

BIGGEST DRAFT BUST: Darko Milicic, No. 2 pick by Pistons in 2003.
The Pistons were choosing from a position of strength: Not only had they reached the conference finals one month before the draft, but they also held the No. 2 pick based on a 1996 trade with the Vancouver Grizzlies. The Pistons gambled that pick on Milicic, an athletic 7-foot Serb with impressive shooting and passing skills. He was unable to earn significant playing time before Detroit unloaded him to the Magic in 2006. The Pistons' mistake was obscured by the 2004 trade for Rasheed Wallace that resulted in a championship and a run of six straight appearances in the conference finals. But Pistons fans have been left to imagine how many more championships might have been won by choosing Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh or Dwyane Wade, who were the next three picks in that lucrative draft.

BIGGEST CONTROVERSY: The Lakers' 106-102 victory against the Kings in Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference finals
The Lakers had a 40-25 edge in free-throw attempts, including a 27-9 advantage in the fourth quarter alone. ”Obviously, [the Lakers] got the game called the way they wanted to get it called,'' Kings coach Rick Adelman said after the game. Convicted referee Tim Donaghy would allege that two of the referees conspired to influence a Lakers victory in order to produce a Game 7, a charge vehemently denied by commissioner David Stern.