June 6 in sports history: Dirty laundry? McHale clotheslines Rambis

"I went to foul him, and when he skidded on the floor and bounced around," McHale told boston.com. "... I mean, I didn't really care about hurting him that much, but I was like, 'Oh, that might have been a little bit more than I anticipated.' "

The Celtics rallied to force overtime before eventually evening the Finals with a 129-125 victory. Boston went on to win the series in seven games.

"Before that play, the Lakers were little kids just running across the street without looking," Celtics forward Cedric Maxwell told the Boston Globe in 2000. "But after that play, they would stop, press the walk button, wait for the light to turn, then look both ways."

ONE GIANT STEP-OVER 

2001: Allen Iverson had arguably the best crossover in the NBA — just ask Michael Jordan. But who knew that "The Answer" also had the league's best step-over?

On this date 19 years ago — in Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Lakers — the Sixers superstar pulled off both moves while being guarded by Tyronn Lue, a sequence that still gets major burn on social media.

Iverson used his crossover to give him some space against Lue, made a baseline jumper and then stepped over the Lakers reserve after hitting the shot.

'I just felt like he (Lue) did a lot of grabbing and holding," Iverson told GQ. "A lot of times, I had my way with him."

Turns out Iverson had his way with all of the Lakers that night, finishing with a game-high 48 points as Philadelphia won 107-101 in overtime at Staples Center. Even with Lue, Los Angeles had no answer for The Answer on defense.

"I fall down and he steps over me," Lue told ESPN. "People act like I got crossed over and I fell and he stepped over me. So it doesn't bother me. We won the championship. That's all that matters. It's all about winning."

The Lakers took the next four games to win the middle championship of their eventual three-peat. But the lasting image from Game 1 is Iverson stepping over Lue. And the Clippers assistant coach is OK with that.

"The step over definitely made me famous," Lue told Bleacher Report. "The thing with Allen Iverson is, he made me. ... If Milwaukee would have beat Philly (in the Eastern Conference Finals), I wouldn't have played. So that could have possibly been my last year in the NBA. People don't understand that. ... Iverson making it to the Finals really saved my career. Without Iverson, there probably wouldn't be me."

MAJOR MOMENTS

1946: The NBA was founded in New York City at the Commodore Hotel. It was initially known as the Basketball Association of America (BAA) with Maurice Podoloff appointed as the first president. The BAA changed its name to the National Basketball Association (NBA) on Aug. 3, 1949, after merging with the competing National Basketball League (NBL).

2011: The Bowl Championship Series stripped USC of its 2004 title, leaving that season without a BCS champion. BCS officials vacated the championship after the Trojans were hit with heavy NCAA sanctions in 2010 for rules violations committed during the '04 and '05 seasons. The Associated Press previously announced USC would remain its 2004 champion.

2015: Tiger Woods recorded the highest score of his career — an 85 in the Memorial at Muirfield Village, a tournament he has won five times. Woods ended his front nine of the third round with consecutive double-bogeys and finished with a quadruple-bogey 8.

TENNIS, ANYONE?

1987: Eight days shy of her 18th birthday, Steffi Graf became the youngest women's French Open champion in history when she defeated Martina Navratilova, 6-4, 4-6, 8-6. Monica Seles beat Graf in the 1990 final to become youngest female champ at 16 years and 189 days before Marina Hingis (16 years, 117 days) beat Mary Pierce in the 1997 championship to supplant Seles.

1999: Rallying to win the French Open, Andre Agassi became the fifth man to complete a career Grand Slam. After losing the first two sets, Agassi — who would marry Graf in 2001 — came back to beat Andrei Medvedev, 1-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. Agassi won Wimbledon in 1992, the 1994 U.S. Open and the 1995 Australian Open.

TITLE SIGNS

1999: Juli Inkster won the U.S. Women's Open with 16-under 272, matching the lowest 72-hole score in the tournament's history.

"This is the ultimate tournament," Inkster told the Associated Press. "No one can take that away from me. I'm the U.S. Open champion."

Annika Sorenstam (1996) and In Gee Chun (2015) also won the U.S. Women's Open with 72-hole scores of 272.

Happy birthday...

• Olympic gold-medal sprinter Tommie Smith, who is best known — along with John Carlos — for protesting U.S. racism and oppression with raised fists on the winner's podium for the 200 meters at the 1968 Summer Games in Mexico City. (76)
• Bjorn Borg, who was considered the No. 1 tennis player in the world from 1977-1980. The Swede, known for his memorable matches with John McEnroe, won 11 Grand Slam singles titles. (64)
• Two-time Silver Slugger Award winner and 2019 All-Star third baseman Anthony Rendon, who led the Nationals over his hometown Astros in last year's World Series. He signed a seven-year, $245 million deal with the Angels in December. (30)
• Four-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who was traded by the Texans to the Cardinals in March. (28).

R.I.P.

1999: Three-time MLB All-Star second baseman and former manager Eddie Stanky, who defended Jackie Robinson against racist insults during Robinson's color barrier-breaking rookie season in 1947. He died of a heart attack. He was 83.

2016: Kimbo Slice, street fighter and MMA competitor. Slice, whose real name was Kevin Ferguson, appeared on the reality TV show "The Ultimate Fighter" in 2009. He died of congestive heart failure. He was 42.

2018: Ten-time MLB All-Star Red Schoendienst. The Cardinals Hall of Fame second baseman, manager and coach had a major league career of more than 70 years. He had surgery after suffering a minor heart attack in May 2017. He was 95.

June 5: All hail the 'Big Red Head'