On this Day the NBA Finals Didn’t Matter

It was June 17, 1994, Game 5 of the 1994 NBA Finals, Rockets vs. Knicks. But most sports fans don’t remember that day for the game. They remember it as “The Day of the Chase.” 

Five days earlier, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman had been stabbed to death in the doorway of her Brentwood, California, home. And now, O.J Simpson, the Hall-of-Fame college and pro football player, was on the run in his white Ford Bronco driven by Al Cowlings, a college teammate.

Most of the country watched O.J. Simpson’s white Bronco being chased by police down the L.A. Freeway. The national broadcast left the game in N.Y. and turned to “The Chase.” When the network turned back to the game, the Knicks were leading 59-53 with 3:40 left in the third quarter, but a viewing box was positioned in the corner so that fans would follow “The Chase.” Marv Albert’s play-by-play call was swapped out for police and reporters’ chatter about Simpson and his Bronco.

https://youtu.be/OEtXvBmfMQc

Kenny Smith was on the Rockets’ bench during a timeout as coach Rudy Tomjonovitch drew up a play. But the players are all talking, and Rudy T asked, “What are you guys doing?” Smith replied, “O.J. is on the run!” Rudy replied, “We’re in the middle of the NBA Finals!” But once Smith walk out to the court, the coach pulled him back, ‘Is he really on the run?”

The Knicks won that game, but the Rockets won the series. Jeff Van Gundy, an assistant to the Knicks then, had a chance meeting with coach Pat Riley and Cowlings in the weeks following “The Chase.” Cowlings told them the story of driving as O.J. listened to the game, not wanting Cowlings to pull into his driveway until the game was over.

I remember watching both events live, a youngster at the time. History was made that day. It was the “Day of the Chase.”

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Cover photo courtesy of YouTube.