What is the signature play in the history of each NBA franchise?

Denver Nuggets: Dikembe Mutombo blocks Shawn Kemp

The 1993-94 regular season wasn’t the best for the Denver Nuggets. A 42-40 record earned an end to a three-year playoff drought as the eighth seed, but that meant a first-round matchup with the 63-win Seattle SuperSonics.

Those 63 wins marked the best record in the NBA for a Sonics team headlined by the All-Star duo of Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp.

Denver had defensive stalwart Dikembe Mutombo in the middle and reigning Most Improved Player Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. That still wasn’t enough to change the narrative of a likely early postseason exit.

The first two games went according to plan with convincing Seattle victories. Once the Nuggets claimed consecutive wins on their home court, the expected route had suddenly headed into a winner-take-all Game 5.

The Nuggets’ momentum sent the game into overtime, where they possessed a two-point lead with 32.6 seconds remaining and Seattle holding possession.

Mutombo was guarding Kemp when he caught the ball near the left corner. One of the most explosive athletes in NBA history, Kemp jabbed right and darted to the rim via the left baseline.

A bucket ties the game and puts the pressure back onto a sputtering Denver offense that registered four shot-clock violations in OT alone. A miss sends the Nuggets to the free-throw line with a chance to ice the game.

Never one to truly be out of a play with his length and reflexes, Mutombo recovered enough to send Kemp’s layup attempt away and into the hands of Reggie Williams. The block was Mutombo’s eighth of the game and maintained Denver’s lead. Following two made free-throws by Robert Pack, the four-point lead was too much for Seattle to overcome.

The win was a historic one, marking the first instance of an eighth seed upsetting a No. 1 seed. Overcome by emotion, Mutombo fell to the floor, ball in his clutches, his efforts on the other side of the court proving valuable once again.