Tracy McGrady, 30 years Ahmad Rashad's junior, passes on wearing a uniform (Getty Images)
NBC's "NBA Inside Stuff' was designed and created in 1990 to appeal directly to someone exactly like me — a 10-year-old NBA freak that was too old for cartoons but not too jaded to take in the commissioner-approved, light re-tellings of the NBA week that was. The jaded part came later, but not before "main man" became a go-to joke amongst its ardent watchers, and Ahmad Rashad's pronunciation of "FRI-DAY!" became an immovable part of every NBA fan's lexicon, some two decades later.
This is why Oakley & Allen's two-part greatest hits package, featuring the best of the show, is necessary viewing. Even in an era when "SportsCenter" highlights and the introduction of numerous clip shows made it easier to follow a Sprewell or a McDyess off in some faraway climate, the weekly collection was a needed salve to NBA fans in the pre-Internet days. Even if, as teens, we were way over that, maaaan.
Via The Basketball Jones, here's the first installment:
And the second:
And you're now allowed to cry for joy in response to a youth well spent.
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