Sean
Well-Known Member
I remember this! I thought it was like a fevered-dream. They talked a lot about it on 1320 that summer. It was played up as the Big Three titleless players coming together for one last run.
But as we saw in 1999, with the shortened season, age was a huge factor in Utah bowing out early. That five-game series vs the Kings absolutely wore them out and Portland finished them off.
Hard to see how adding another older player, who clearly had declined from where he was in 1997 (way more than either Stockton or Malone, or Horny for that matter) would have changed things.
But as we saw in 1999, with the shortened season, age was a huge factor in Utah bowing out early. That five-game series vs the Kings absolutely wore them out and Portland finished them off.
Hard to see how adding another older player, who clearly had declined from where he was in 1997 (way more than either Stockton or Malone, or Horny for that matter) would have changed things.