The Playoffs have seen their share of incredible players and performances. (Wen Roberts/D. Clarke Evans/Nathaniel S. Roberts/NBAE/Getty Images)

The NBA Playoffs are an exciting time, a time when heroes are born and legends write themselves into the annals of basketball lore. From Russell's 11 championships with the Celtics to Jordan's incredible run with the Bulls, the Playoffs bring out the best in the game's top players. Now that the 2006 postseason is upon us, take a moment to remember some heroes of Playoffs past ... and present. A new article will be unveiled each day during NBA Playoffs 2006.

The Sunning of the Bulls (Almost)
By Erin Podolsky

"It transpired in just 10.2 seconds, a tiny blip on the landscape of a six-game series. But for the fans and players of the 1993 NBA Finals, they were some of the most memorable moments of their lives. MJ to B.J., B.J. to Scottie, Scottie to Ho Grant, Ho Grant to Pax (John Paxson). Catch, shoot, win. Make the evening news. Make history. Three in a row on a 3-pointer. No mercy. That’s the way it’s done." Read more >>

Lesson Learned
By Michael Bradley

"They had to get back. Just had to. There were bad memories to be erased. Learned lessons to be applied. Mighty foes to be conquered. Seattle’s run to the 1979 NBA Finals was about all those things. It was also about a team’s ability to grow from one season to the next. About how a team could work past the disappointment of loss and mature into a champion." Read more >>

Slam Dipper Dunk
By Lyle Spencer

"For one season, for so many reasons, there never has been an NBA team the equal of the 1971-72 Lakers. Greatest team ever? In the immortal words of the late, incomparably great Chick Hearn: 'Slaaaam dunk!' They didn’t sustain it over a decade like the dynastic ‘80s Lakers of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but the first of Los Angeles’ nine NBA champs left an indelible mark on the game." Read more >>

Legendary Rivals
By Elliott Kalb

"There are many great rivalries in NBA history, but the discussion of which of these is the greatest begins and ends with one legendary showdown: Bill Russell versus Wilt Chamberlain." Read more >>

A Stroll Down Memory Lane
By Rob Reheuser

"The NBA Finals have certainly provided their share of indelible moments over the years. For Sam Perkins, who played for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1991 Finals against the Chicago Bulls, one such moment could also be classified as inedible." Read more >>

Handling the Pressure

"First-time jitters. No one is immune. Be it a date, job interview or athletic competition, the first time can be the toughest time. To make life a bit easier for first-time participants in this year’s NBA Finals, we sought advice from some of the modern era’s premier players and coaches concerning how a first-time Finals player should handle the pressure." Read more >>

South Beach Showtime
By Dave McMenamin

"While Pat Riley might have a little bit of gray adorning his slicked-back coif, he once again has a 24-year-old star guard and 34-year-old veteran center on a team of his that is playing for the Larry O’Brien trophy. The coach is hoping that Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal can lift the Heat over the Mavericks the same way that Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar carried his Lakers back in the day." Read more >>

Bucking the Trend
By Rob Reheuser

"With Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson, it’s no surprise that the Bucks won the 1971 Finals. What’s surprising is Milwaukee was in only its third NBA season." Read more >>

Added Incentive
By Alex Sachare

"When the Boston Celtics walked into the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., on May 5, 1969, to take on the Los Angles Lakers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, they gazed upward and stared in disbelief. Thousands of balloons were suspended in netting just below the ceiling, several hundred feet above the playing floor. Needless to say, the Celtics were not amused. Red Auerbach, the major-domo of the Celtics, took one look at the balloons and his blood began to boil." Read more >>

Walking the Talk
By Lyle Spencer

"Before they had finished popping the champagne corks or had time to dry the bubbly residue from their smiling faces, the 1987 NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers were brought down to earth with one declarative sentence by their erudite coach. Pat Riley, a calculating man who rarely does anything without a purpose, wasn’t whistling in the dark. His declaration was born of reflection, not emotion." Read more >>

A Classic Rivalry
By Elliott Kalb

"There are several ingredients needed in order to make a great rivalry in professional sports. The rivals need to face each other in meaningful games for a number of years. They need to play with distinct styles. And the coaches and players have to have a mutual respect for one another. Under any definition, the Knicks and Bullets were classic rivals from 1969 to 1975." Read more >>

Assists Anyone?
By Elliott Kalb

"The Dallas Mavericks won 60 games this season, swept their first round playoff opponent and are giving the defending champion Spurs all they can handle in the second round. That’s why it’s so startling to see their low assist totals. The Mavericks try to explain their lack of assists by point to the fact that they usually have five shooters on the court. It still doesn’t jive, though." Read more >>

The Longest Day
By Jeramie McPeek

"More than one newspaper declared it The Greatest Game Ever Played, a label that lives on today. The strange truth, however, is that if not for a missed John Havlicek free throw in the closing seconds of regulation, Game 5 of the 1976 NBA Finals would be considered just another Boston Celtics win. For most of the first 48 minutes, in fact, it was a poorly played contest." Read more >>

The Last Hurrah
By Elliott Kalb

"It was a fun league, the American Basketball Association. There were colorful teams, colorful players and an even more colorful red, white and blue basketball. But the league may have saved its best for last with the 1976 ABA Finals between Larry Brown’s Nuggets and Kevin Loughery’s Nets." Read more >>

The Foundation of a Dynasty
By Clifton Brown

"In 1957, the Celtics won their first-ever title and laid the groundwork for the greatest championship run in sports history. The foundation arrived in the form of Bill Russell in 1956. With Russell manning the middle, the Celtics owned the rest of the league – at least when it counted. No other team in league history has ever been so good at winning championships for so long." Read more >>

A Decade of Parity
By Alon Marcovici

"Close your eyes and think of the 1970s. Not the Bee Gees. Not bell bottoms. Not even mirrored disco balls. Just think of NBA basketball (Let your mind wander). The 1970s saw eight different NBA champions - the most of any decade - and no back-to-back winners." Read more >>

George Mikan vs. the Knicks
By Jeramie McPeek

"It’s a story that has been told numerous times through the years, and it remained one of George Mikan’s favorites. If you had asked the legendary Laker about his illustrious career, he surely would have mentioned December 14, 1949, when his Minneapolis squad rolled up to Madison Square Garden for a game against the Knickerbockers." Read more >>

The Best Team Ever
By Alex Sachare

"Wilt Chamberlain was never the type of player to shy away from a daunting challenge, contact under the basket, or, off the court, a strong opinion. So it should not be surprising when he said -- before his death in October 1999 -- without hesitation: 'The best team ever. The best team I ever saw was the 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers.'" Read more >>

Blast Off!
By Steve Pate

"After an inconsistent regular season, the Houston Rockets did the improbable in 1980-81, catching fire at just the right time to reach the NBA Finals. What Houston accomplished in a 23-team league in ’81 was truly spectacular. Perhaps everyone should have known something special was happening when the Rockets rocked the playoffs’ very foundation by flabbergasting the reigning NBA champion Lakers in the first round, twice on the road." Read more >>

Blazermania
By David Higdon

"It was 29 years ago when Portland blazed an unprecedented trail by defeating the heavily favored Philadelphia 76ers in its first-ever postseason appearance. The season of destiny began five months after the Portland Trail Blazers finished in last place in the Pacific Division. It had been an active offseason. Of the 12 roster players at the beginning of the 1976-77 season, seven were new." Read more >>

From Showtime to Blue-Collar
By Mark Heisler

"The Lakers won their first two titles in the ‘80s on sheer, dazzling, fast-breaking talent. By the 1986-87 season, they weren’t as flashy but were learning to play the game with their heads. Their transition from highlight reel to blue-collar was embodied by the growth of coach Pat Riley." Read more >>

Forever Linked
By David DuPree

"Like Frazier and Ali, Superman and Lex Luther, the Washington Bullets and Seattle SuperSonics will forever be linked in opposition – at least until the two teams win another title with someone else as the opponent. In the 1977-78 and ’78-79 seasons, they met in the NBA Finals. The Bullets won the first year and the Sonics the second, giving each franchise its first and only NBA championship." Read more >>

In Style
By Darryl Howerton

"True style never goes out of fashion. Take the 1973 NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Lakers. That was style, my friend. All the basketball stars in those crazy, psychedelic days of the early ‘70s had miles upon miles of style, but it was especially true of these two squads. And we’re not just talking on the court, although we’ll get to that in a minute – we’re talking on the street." Read more >>

Timeless Excellence
By Bob Ryan

"It is the 37th full season since Bill Russell last played for the Celtics. But let there be no doubt in the mind of any young fan about what would happen were he to be time-capsuled into the contemporary NBA – no bigger, no stronger, no quicker, no more intelligent, no more competitive – in short, no better or worse than he was in his physical prime." Read more >>

Garden Variety Shootout
By Alex Sachare

"Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs and Latrell Sprewell of the New York Knicks, two contrasting players and personalities, staged one of the most exciting duels in NBA Finals history in the second half of Game 5 seven years ago." Read More >>

History on Their Side
By Elliott Kalb

"Just when you thought that Phil Jackson’s record for postseason victories would last longer than DiMaggio’s hit streak, Pat Riley returned as head coach of the Heat. And this time, Riley, rather than Jackson, has Shaquille O’Neal on his side. If the Heat win the NBA championship, then Riley will edge dangerously close to Jackson’s record. It’s something to watch for." Read more >>

Their Royal Highnesses
By Barry Rubinstein

"There are no vestiges of the barn-like building that once stood there. But in the recesses of the league’s heritage sit places like the Edgerton Park Sports Arena and the team that played there, the Rochester Royals, who for one, shining moment a half-century ago, owned the position their nickname suggested was their birthright: perched atop their throne, surveying their kingdom as NBA champions." Read more >>

When the Dust Settled
By David Ramsey

"The 1955 Finals offered a glimpse of the best – and wildest – traits of the league’s infancy. It was in the Wild West times of the NBA, before league enforcement officers preserved, protected and defended the game against violence. The 1955 Finals featured crazed fans, fights between players, attacks on referees and defenders who mauled anyone foolish enough to make a trip down the lane. It also featured the last gasp of the small-city atmosphere that dominated the NBA’s early days." Read more >>

Six Degrees of Larry Brown
By Elliott Kalb

"Of the 16 franchises in this year’s NBA postseason, it seems that Larry Brown coached every one of them. Although that’s not quite true, Brown’s travels have allowed him to influence players, coaches and front office staff on nearly every playoff team. How can a head coach whose New York Knicks squad finished 23-59 this season be so far-reaching?" Read more >>

When Larry Met Magic
By Darryl Howerton

"Twenty-two years ago, it was 1984 and Big Brother was watching. Big Sister, Big Daddy and Big Mama, too, were tuned in to network television to see the Celtics and Lakers – Larry vs. Magic – in the 1984 NBA Finals, a historic showcase that went down as the most-watched basketball championship series of its time and now is recognized as arguably the greatest NBA Finals ever." Read more >>

The Fab Five
By Dan Barreiro

"The faster the world spins forward, the less interested it seems in the past. In the case of the pro basketball world, that is a pity because the story of the Minneapolis Lakers is as rich and fresh today as it was in 1952. The Lakers were not only the NBA’s first dynasty, they would be a tantalizing hint of what the game would become almost 50 years later." Read more >>

On the Rise?
By Elliott Kalb

"The Phoenix Suns finished with 62 wins last year, and had high hopes of winning their first NBA Championship. The Suns were only the 34th team in history to win that many games in one season, and 17 of them went on to win the NBA Finals. If the Suns went into the 2005 postseason with a 50 percent chance of winning the Finals, what chance to do they have entering the 2006 postseason?" Read more >>

Welcome to the Show
By Elliott Kalb

"LeBron James was the Rookie of the Year in 2004, was second team All-NBA in 2005, and was the 2006 All-Star Game MVP. He’s scored nearly 6,000 points in the NBA just a few months after his 21st birthday; but, until April 22, he had yet to crack a postseason box score. That quickly changed." Read more >>