When seeking writers for the series below, never did I expect one of the entries to combine a game featuring 7-footers Yao Ming, Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan all playing together at the same time with former NBAer John Salley messing up a sportswriter’s chances of properly meeting Kelly Rowland. So thank you, Mr. Michael Lee, for delivering.



In 2007, as a special projects editor for SI.com, I asked our writers to share their memories from the best game they had ever witnessed. It was a revealing snapshot of what sporting events had influenced my colleagues and as I kicked around ideas for this column a couple of months ago, I thought it would be interesting to rework the idea for 2019 and solicit entries from writers based solely on games they had covered as members of the sports media.



This week The Athletic has unveiled essays from sports media people (including many of my colleagues at The Athletic) on the best...