ON THIS DAY… THAT’S RIGHT! 25 years ago TODAY, back in 1996… Big LUC ‘Lucien’ LONGLEY became the first Aussie to win an NBA TITLE!
That’s right… it’s BREAKS MY FKN HEARTTTTTT cos they beat my beloved Seattle #SuperSonics in 6… but on June 16, the immortal 72-10 ’96 Bulls closed out Seattle by 12… WITH BIG LUC DOING WORK!!
That’s right, Outback Billy Russell was out there crushing it alongside the 🐐 MJ, Scottie Pippen & renowned loose unit Dennis Rodman … patrolling the paint for the Bulls against Gary ‘The Glove’ Payton and the Reign Man himself, Shawn Kemp, doing a bloody admirable job in leading the Bulls to the title!
Cos the Bulls stomped the Sonics by 12 to close out the First NBA title won by an Aussie!
Matched up against the immortal Frank Brickowski — a name so apt the only way to top it would be for Paul George to change his name to “Joe Ingles Jr” — Big Lucien went to work with more relish than your old man making his signature nachos: Nacho-flavoured Doritos with a tub of ‘mild’ Doritos salsa & topped with burnt cheese!
In dominating Brickowski like he was Billy Brownless at the Smorgys Sunday All-You-Can-Eat Buffet, Lucky Luc shot 5-of-6 from the field & was a bang on 2-for-3 from the charity stripe for a crucial 12 points.
He also ripped down 8 rebounds — it would have been 28 if bloody Dennis Rodman hadn’t stolen the rest — and nicked a steal that was more perfect than the 1-minute-and-48-seconds that make up Grinspoon’s ‘Just Ace’.
And in a display of rim-protection only usually seen when you try to slip one past the missus, Luc also had a block that was so vicious that Steve Scheffler almost scheffled himself.
The Towering Monstrosity of Lucien also played 32 mins because for the FIRST TIME ALL SERIES the refs — even back then — put their extreme case of Anti-Strayan bias aside, after slapping the big fella with 4 or 5 absolute rubbish fouls each game, as he came away with NONE!
… and cos of that, Big Luc made sure the Bulls got to celebrate the title on their own floor. And in a show of faith like he was Mother Theresa herself, it also meant Luc didn’t Reverse Kanga the visitor’s dunnies!
Not a bloody bad showing the Thunder From Down Under: 12/8/1/1 & closes out the Soncis to win the FIRST EVER AUSSIE NBA TITLE! Someone bloody Knight him already, for services to ‘being a dead-set legend’.
Hoist em up, for Big Lucien being the first Aussie to win an NBA ring!
#ONYA Lucien! 🇦🇺🏀🏆
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