June 15 in sports history: You can't stop the reign

Shaq was a force of nature on both ends of the court, averaging 33 points, 15.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 3.4 blocks per game. (The blocks mostly came from a record-tying eight swats in Game 3 a week earlier.) He would be just the third player to be named Finals MVP in consecutive years, joining two former foils in Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon.

"This time is fun," O'Neal reflected after the Lakers collected their 13^th title. "The first championship was just to get the monkey off my back. The rest are to stamp myself in history."

Fun for Shaq was misery for the rest of the league for a few more years.

"THAT'S HOW I BEAT SHAQ"

2004: In the summer of 2003, the Lakers decided to reload in order to provide buffers between rivaling teammates Shaq and Kobe. Karl Malone and Gary Payton went ring-hunting when they signed with L.A., and they were supposed to just ride the wave and figure out their way into Phil Jackson’s Triangle offense.

After some bumps en route to June basketball, it all imploded in the NBA Finals. With superb defense and a more cohesive offense, the Detroit Pistons — with former Sixers coach Larry Brown running the show — "upset" the Lakers to win the franchise’s third championship with a 100-87 Game 5 win on their home floor. Chauncey Billups was named Finals MVP. Cue the Aaron Carter song, "That's How I Beat Shaq."

GOLD SPURS

2003: The San Antonio Spurs won Game 6 of the Finals — and their second NBA championship — against the New Jersey Nets. Point guard Tony Parker, who was often rumored to be replaced by the Nets’ Jason Kidd throughout the regular season, bested his counterpart and would be awarded Finals MVP.

2014: The Spurs would run into LeBron James for the third time in the Finals — and the second year in a row with him as a member of the Miami Heat. A year after losing to the Heatles in one of the all-time great Finals series, the Spurs would dispatch a depleted Miami squad with a thorough 104-87 beatdown in Game 5 to capture their fifth title. Kawhi Leonard took home Finals MVP.

DEEP-SIXED

2011: Breaking a 39-year title drought, the Boston Bruins embarrassed the Vancouver Canucks in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, 4-0. Tim Thomas would win the Conn Smythe after a remarkable playoff run at net.

While the Original Six franchise added more hardware to the New England trophy case, the listless performance by the Canucks on their own ice remains the closest a Canadian team has gotten to winning the Stanley Cup in 20 years. The loss itself would be overshadowed by fan-sparked riots.

2015: Another Original Six team would etch its name onto Lord Stanley as the Chicago Blackhawks took down the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 of the Final, 2-0, to win their third championship in six seasons. Despite the offensive talent on both squads, the teams combined to score three or fewer goals in four games — all won by Chicago.

Defenseman Duncan Keith became the second player ever to score the Cup-clinching goal and win the Conn Smythe.

A REAL-LIFE NOAH’S ARK

1976: A massive thunderstorm doused the Houston area with heavy rain early in the day in just a few hours — anywhere from over seven inches in Downtown Houston to double digits in other parts of the city. Although players from the Astros and the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates would get to the Astrodome, flooding around the stadium made it impossible for most fans to get inside. Umpires and both teams made the call to postpone the game, leading to the first rainout in the history of the Astrodome.

“My girlfriend dropped me off,” Pirates pitcher Paul Siebert said in an interview a few years ago. “She came back, drove through water over the hood. My 1975 Grand Prix was in the shop for a week drying out.”

Famously, the 20 fans who made it to the stadium would eat in the Astros' cafeteria, while players themselves would get served a meal in the middle of the field.

STONE CUTTER

1984: At Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Thomas Hearns retained the WBC super welterweight championship with a second-round technical knockout of Roberto Durán. The Hitman laid some vicious right hands on Durán in the first round, leaving a cut above the Panamanian’s left eye and knocking him down twice. In Round 2, trouble washed over Durán as Hearns landed successive combinations before the kill shot — a stinging left jab followed by a brutal right to the jaw that put Duran face first onto the canvas.

"You all thought I was crazy picking a second-round knockout," Hearns told the media in the post-fight presser. "But I was deadly serious. I couldn't just win; I had to win big because I was fighting a legend. And Roberto Durán is a legend.”

How big of a legend was Durán? It was the first time in 82 career fights that the Hands of Stone got knocked out, including the “No màs” fight against Sugar Ray Leonard back in 1980.

Happy birthday...

• Dusty Baker, manager of the Houston Astros. Baker has also skippered the Giants, Reds, Cubs and Nationals and has been named Manager of the Year three times. As a player, he won a World Series with the Dodgers and was named the NLCS MVP in 1977. He ranks 15th all-time in managerial wins. (71)
• Former 12-time All-Star third baseman Wade Boggs. The Hall of Famer spent 11 of his 18 seasons with the Red Sox, where he won five batting titles. In addition, he won eight Silver Sluggers and two Gold Gloves over his 18-year career that also included stints with the Yankees and Tampa Bay. His 3,010 career hits are good for 30th all-time. (62)
• Former pitcher Andy Pettitte, five-time World Series champ with the New York Yankees. Pettitte pitched for 18 seasons with the Yankees and Astros and was a three-time All-Star. He is the all-time postseason wins leader with 19. (48)
• Mike Holmgren, former head coach of the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks. Holmgren took Green Bay to two Super Bowls, winning one, and is one of only five head coaches to win at least one postseason game in five straight seasons. Holmgren took over as Seahawks head coach and led Seattle to its first Super Bowl appearance. He also briefly served as the Browns president. (72)
• Jay Ajayi, NFL running back. Ajayi was drafted by the Dolphins in 2015 and then traded two years later to Philadelphia, where he won a Super Bowl. (27)

R.I.P.

1991: Happy Chandler, the second-ever commissioner of Major League Baseball. Chandler, who had been a U.S. senator and the governor of Kentucky, served just one six-year term as head of baseball, during which time he was instrumental in helping the league break the color barrier by approving the contract of Jackie Robinson. Described as the “players' commissioner,” he also helped develop a pension fund for them. He was 92. 

1968: “Wahoo Sam” Crawford, who holds the all-time record for the most triples in Major League Baseball. The Hall of Fame outfielder for the Detroit Tigers, from Wahoo, Nebraska, led the league in triples three times as well as in homers twice and is considered one of the greatest sluggers of his time. He died of a stroke at 88.

June 14: Reggie's Fenway feast