The Demise of the Paper Ticket: Basketball

Two venues for which I don’t have ticket stubs – The Spectrum in Philadelphia and Boston Garden – merit coverage for their significance. I attended both in my college days and both have been demolished.

The Spectrum is notable for the one 76ers game I attended and one that I didn’t. Back in the day, the NBA thought nothing of scheduling consecutive Friday-to-Sunday games. The Bulls, in their second season, were the first of three Sixers’ weekend opponents on February 9, 1968, falling 118-113. It appeared the Sixers kept some in the tank – they would travel to New York on Saturday and return home to face the Western Division leading St. Louis Hawks on Sunday. Wilt Chamberlain had a triple-double: 20 points, 17 rebounds and 11 assists.

I had planned on accompanying three fellow Lehigh freshmen to the first game of the Eastern Conference finals vs. the Celtics in Philadelphia on Friday, April 5, 1968. Tragically, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated the day before; I figured the game would be postponed. When it wasn’t, one of my friends and I bailed; the other two drove to the game. Police Commissioner Frank Rizzo vowed there would be no riots in Philadelphia and, as my friends related, armed National Guard troops lined the length of Broad Street to the Spectrum. With several players – including Chamberlain – strongly opposed to playing the game, the show went on, and the Sixers lost 127-118. They would win the next three, then lose the next three, giving the Celtics the road to another NBA championship.

Beginning with the 1959 -1957 season, the Celtics won 11 NBA titles (including 8 consecutive) and 12 Eastern Conference championships, ending after the 1968 -1969 season. I attended several games during the last championship season (tickets were not difficult to buy). My first was vs. the Seattle Supersonics on November 8, 1968; not only did Bob Rule scorch Bill Russell for 37 points but Russell missed a last-second tip-in, resulting in a 114 -112 loss. The last was the Eastern Conference finals on April 18, 1969, where, despite a 4^th-place, the Celtics vied with the rejuvenated New York Knicks. Clinging to a 1-point lead with time ticking down the 24-second clock, the ball went to the least likely Celtic: Satch Sanders. The defensive specialist threw one up from the top of the key that banked in for his second field goal, leaving only enough time for a Willis Reed uncontested dunk (no 3-point line then) and a 106-105 victory and the conference championship, 4 games to 2.

Boston Celtics vs. Chicago Packers, November 12, 1961. Professional basketball returned to Chicago for the first time since the demise of the Chicago Stags in 1950 (my father attended the game). The Packers lost to the Celtics, 112-96, on the way to an eight-game losing streak and an 18-62 record. Bill Russell and Tommy Heinsohn led the Celtics with 28 and 23 points, respectively. Walt Bellamy and Bobby Leonard each scored 17 points for the Packers. NBA basketball in Chicago lasted only one more season, as the team could not get a lease for Chicago Stadium. The Packers became the Zephyrs the following season and played at the Chicago Coliseum before moving to Baltimore to become the Bullets. The Bulls entered the NBA for the 1966 - 1967 season. 

New York Knicks vs. Chicago Bulls, May 29, 1993. In my only post-season game during the Jordan era, the Bulls trounced the Knicks, 103-83. Trailing 2 games to none in the Eastern Conference finals, the win was the first of four in a row. There was some controversy regarding a Michael Jordan trip to Atlantic City during the earlier games; his return to Chicago resulted in the loudest pregame introduction I’ve heard. I was also seen on national TV in the background of a half-time interview by Ahmad Rashad with Jerry Krause. 

Toronto Raptors vs. Chicago Bulls, March 30, 2019. My last NBA paper ticket. The woeful Bulls, playing without five of their best players, were trounced by the Raptors, 124 - 101, before an announced crowd of 21,238. The only Bulls' bright spot was Chicago native and Julian High School grad Walter Lemon, Jr,. scoring 19 points in his Bulls debut. The Raptors would go on to win the NBA championship. 

San Diego Clippers vs. Phoenix Suns, February 13, 1981. On a trip to visit my mother and stepfather in Scottsdale, I attended a game at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Suns defeated the San Diego Clippers, 110-94, on the way to the Pacific Division title. All five starters scored in double figure, and 11 Suns (including fan favorite Mike Niles) put up points. Joe Bryant, Kobe's dad, led the Clippers with 19 points. The highlight of the evening was a Motorola engineer hitting a half-court shot to win a Ford Thunderbird. In his excitement, he let the shot fly before the PA man finished his introduction. The Clippers entered the NBA in 1970 - 1971 as the Buffalo Braves before moving to San Diego for the 1978 - 1979 season and Los Angeles for the 1984 - 1985 season. 

Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Miami Heat, December 28, 1999. I didn’t know at the time our company’s insurance providers gave me the tickets that this would be the last NBA game at the Miami Arena. The Heat defeated the T’wolves, 89-79, before a capacity crowd of 15,200. Alonzo Mourning led the Heat with 30 points, 13 rebounds and 5 blocks. Kevin Garnett had an off night, scoring 16 points on 7 for 23 shooting. The Miami Arena was obsolete the day it opened in 1988 – it had the smallest seating capacity of all NBA and NHL arena – and it was demolished just a month after its last event in June 2008. No longer needing to share an arena, the Heat began play in the American Airlines Arena five days later while the Florida Panthers headed to Sunrise in northwest Broward County.

 

University of Illinois vs. Northwestern University, January 14, 1963. Like football, our father began taking us to see his alma mater play at Northwestern in the late 1950s. In one of the most famous games in Illinois basketball history, Illinois captain Bob Starnes hit a 55-foot shot at the buzzer to defeat Northwestern, 78-76. Illinois was ranked #3 in the country at that time. All-American Tal Brody threw the inbounds pass for the assist; some 50 years later, I presented Brody – known as Mr. Basketball in the State of Israel – with my ticket stub during one of his frequent visits here for the Israeli government.

University of Michigan vs. Northwestern University, January 15, 1966. Freshman were not eligible for varsity sports then but the freshman team played exhibition games. We knew to buy a cheap ticket, arrive early and pass ourselves off as Northwestern students. This allowed us to sit in the unreserved student section in the first rows at midcourt, the best seats in the house. Chicago’s own Cazzie Russell poured in 39 points, breaking the Michigan all-time scoring record on his way to becoming College Basketball Player of the Year.  Michigan defeated Northwestern, 94-86, that evening; several friends saw us on TV, sitting just a few rows from courtside.

Lehigh University vs. DePaul University, November 26, 2014. Lehigh upset DePaul, 86-74, before 5,785 at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont. It was the Mountain Hawks' first win of the season. Unfortunately, I could not attend, having come down with an illness that not only prevented me from attending but has also kept us from my cousin's Thanksgiving dinner. Luckily, the tickets on StubHub were only $13.25 each. It would have been my first Lehigh basketball game since seeing Jim McMillian’s Columbia University debut, December 4,1967, at 78 -57 win at Taylor Gym in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.