Jeremy Lamb buzzer-beater is reminiscent of a great Phoenix Suns moment

On Sunday night, Jeremy Lamb lost the ball but managed to nail a 3-pointer beyond half court to defeat the Toronto Raptors. This reminds me…

Wait for it…

When a franchise has been around as long as the Phoenix Suns have (eight games short of 52 complete seasons), buzzer-beater shots are told from the perspective of a dime-a-dozen.

Every generation of Suns fans, in fact, can share the story of the greatest buzzer-beaters in their memory.

For the older folks, Gar Heard‘s “shot Heard ’round the World” is undoubtedly their favorite moment (game five of the 1976 NBA Finals for you youngin’s).

For some, it is Rex Chapman‘s regulation buzzer-beating 3-pointer to tie against the number two seed Seattle SuperSonics in the 1997 first round (I vividly remember being a 13-year-old, listening to Al McCoy on the radio – the game was on PPV and my parents didn’t even have cable),

But for others, including myself, the absolute most memorable buzzer-beater was Dan Majerle‘s regular season 3-pointer to sweep  the Los Angeles Lakers 5-0, when he caught the ball, turned, and flicked the ball in from 33-feet, a swish that (again, I listened on the radio), I (and all Suns fans from that era) will never forget.

If you have never seen it, here it is:

(the short version)

(And the long version – start at 27:22)

When Dan Majerle hit his shot, the Suns had already clinched a playoff berth and were mere days away from clinching both the Pacific Division over the Seattle SuperSonics (whom Phoenix would face in the Western Conference Finals), and also the Conference title as well.

For the modern-day Charlotte Hornets, Lamb’s shot may not be from a playoff-clinched team, it may not have clinched a berth, and it certainly did not clinch a Conference Championship.

But for kids similar to the age I was when Majerle hit his 3-pointer over a hated rival, it (hopefully) solidified a life-long memory in them similar to the one that I have with the Suns.

Something the Charlotte Hornets have never had is a championship competitive team. While they have had some great rosters (most notably the very same 1992-93 season with Alonzo Morning, Larry Johnson, Muggsy Bogues, Kendall Gill, J.R. Reid, and Stephen Curry‘s Dad, Dell Curry), the franchise has never even made it to the Eastern Conference Finals, and hasn’t even been to the Semi’s since 2002.

(They also only have three 50+ win teams in their history – eight games from 30 full seasons – their last one, a 51-31 team back in 1997-98).

But while Majerle’s shot helped propel a regular season juggernaut to it’s ultimate NBA Finals appearance, Jeremy Lamb won a game that might  help the Hornets make the playoffs this season, although at this moment, it might literally take another  a miracle for this to happen.

Phoenix Suns

That said, as big of a Phoenix Suns fan as I am, I am just as big of a basketball fan, and when I saw Lamb’s shot go in, I couldn’t help but think of the kids.

I love seeing kids love  the NBA, and I want them all to experience similar moments to the ones that I did as a child myself, and shots like this should hopefully solidify their fandom for a lifetime.

To this day, I will still bring up in conversation with Suns fans that very Majerle 3, and I cannot help but hope that 26 years from now, (the same distance from Thunder’s shot to today) that then 35-year-old “kids” will bring up this shot as well, as one of the greatest they ever saw.

I have always been a Phoenix Suns fan at heart, and always will be – regardless who their boob of an owner is.

And while I will always have a soft spot in my heart for those early Charlotte Hornets teams as well (who in that era didn’t  love Grandmama??), they will always be secondary to my love of the Phoenix Suns, regardless of the situation.

But the shot that Lamb made on Sunday night – to win a game, no less – is something that will probably make memories for fans of that franchise for a lifetime, and was both exciting and exceptional enough for even me to think back to my childhood as I jumped up and down shouting with excitement (well past my bedtime, mind you) because “Thunder Dan” nailed a shot that he should have never even had the space to attempt in the first place.

That Jeremy Lamb shot was truly incredible, and as an NBA fan I am blessed to have lived in an era where I could watch it a number of times over and over on replay on my phone.

It also made me smile as I thought back to my childhood, and hope that someday, somewhere, I meet a then adult who will look back that shot as a memory he/she will forever have, opening me up the opportunity to describe my favorite game-winning memory, tying the two eras – and fan-bases – forever, together.