Posted on Mon Sep 25, 2006 at 01:05:19 PM EST in NBA
More on: sports history, Michael Jordan, boxing, crime (all tags)

In 1997: In one of the most uncomfortable and embarrassing moments in sportscasting history, announcer Marv Albert plead guilty to assault and battery of a female companion in a Virginia hotel room. Albert was accused of repeatedly biting the woman on the back and forcing her to perform sex acts. Albert was immediately fired from his job at NBC, where he did NBA and NFL broadcasts; and he was forced to resign from MSG Network as the voice of the New York Knicks, where he started over 30 years ago. He was rehired by NBC a few years later and became the voice of the New Jersey Nets in 2005 on the YES Network.

In 2001: Despite being “99.9 percent sure” he would never play again, Michael Jordan announced he would be returning (again) to play in the NBA, this time for the Washington Wizards. Jordan, who was already the president of basketball operations, played two more seasons for the lowly Wizards, averaging 21 points and selling out all 82 home games at the MCI Center in Washington (and most arenas on the road). He retired at the end of the 2003 season.

In 1994: In the most shocking upset since Mike Tyson-Buster Douglas, journeyman Oliver McCall knocked out heavyweight champ Lennox Lewis in Lewis’ hometown of London. McCall lost the title shortly thereafter, and is most remembered for his nervous breakdown in the ring in a rematch against Lewis, when he began crying and refused to defend himself. Many speculated that McCall was on drugs. All tests, however, came up negative.

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