Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were, by some distance, the best duo in the NBA in the 1990s. However, as they neared the end of their time together in Chicago, Warriors stars Joe Smith and Latrell Sprewell were touted to be the next in line as the league’s best one-two punch. However, one incident completely foiled the future of a potentially historic tandem.
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During an appearance on the Above The Rim With D-12 podcast, Smith spoke about the infamous choking incident between Sprewell and coach PJ Carlesimo during the 1997-98 NBA season that led to the second-longest suspension in NBA history and the forward’s exit from the Warriors. He said,
“It was a lot of stuff that led up to that [choking incident]…Spre and I was behind Jordan and Pippen as far as the top-two tandems in the league…Spre was balling, man and PJ had just gotten there. And I guess his intention was to go after our leader. Kind of tame the leader and I can control the rest of the flock.”
Smith claimed that Carlesimo and Sprewell would often butt head in practice, as the coach had a penchant for calling him out. He revealed that the tension between the two grew with each passing week before the two finally came to blows in December 1997,
“So, every damn practice, he on him. Spre was one of the dudes, I swear he never took a day off. Went hard, every possession in practice. Drills went hard. So, there was really no reason for him to be on him like that… One day, he just couldn’t take it no more…It was a buildup. It was weeks and weeks of it. And one day he just couldn’t take it no more. And PJ came up too wrong and then he got too close.”
Sprewell choked Carlesmiro and threatened to kill him as teammates and other members of the coaching staff rushed to the scene. The league suspended the forward for the rest of the season and the Warriors released him immediately.
Excluding lifetime bans, Sprewell’s 68-game suspension was the longest in league history at the time and was later eclipsed by Ron Artest’s 86 for his role in the Malice in the Palace.
The altercation might’ve cost the Warriors a potential dynasty. They would eventually form one and win four championships in eight years between 2014 and 2022.
However, the franchise’s older fans likely ponder occasionally if they could’ve replaced the Bulls as the league’s new superpower in the late 1990s had Sprewell kept his cool on that fateful day.
