Spurs-Knicks Flashback: What Was the World Like in 1999?

Y2K. Ricky Martin. The Backstreet Boys. Tabing Ilog. Efren Reyes. Nokia cellphones. And yes, Spurs-Knicks in the NBA Finals. Any way you look at it, 1999 was quite the year.

It’s June, which means the NBA Finals are upon us once more.

A tantalizing matchup is about to unfold. In one corner we have the San Antonio Spurs, who are led by a young generational big man bound for superstardom. Their opponents are the New York Knicks, who have a point guard surnamed Brunson on their roster.

Yes, it’s 1999 and the lockout-shortened NBA season is about to reach its conclusion.

Twenty-seven years ago, Tim Duncan was still on the ascent as a dominant power forward and Rick Brunson was the Knicks third-string point guard. Their respective teams met in the 1999 NBA Finals, easily won by a superior Spurs team in five games for the franchise’s first NBA title.

If that series seemed like a generation ago, it’s because it was. Rick Brunson’s son Jalen, who was only three years old in 1999, is now the Knicks’ All-Star point guard. Duncan retired 10 years ago as the greatest power forward of all time with five titles.

Let’s go back in time, to the dot-com era, when everyone was terrified of Y2K and the Millennium Bug, when fax machines were still kings of communication and email hadn’t quite caught on yet.

As the late great Prince once sang, “We’re gonna party like it’s 1999.”

Pop culture: Livin’ La Vida Loca, R2K, Friends Dominate the Headlines

1999 was a seminal year for music and television, both internationally and locally.

Ricky Martin sang about Livin’ La Vida Loca, rock legend Carlos Santana launched an improbable comeback with Smooth, and the Backstreet Boys were telling everyone I Want It That Way. On the local front, the OPM rock music revival sparked by the Eraserheads in 1993 was starting to cool down, but that didn’t stop the ‘Heads from releasing their century-ender, Natin99, their only album with virtually 100% Tagalog songs. Songbird Regine Velasquez released R2K, which became the year’s best-selling local album.

Friends was the no. 1 comedy in America, while this new game show called Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? proved to be a ratings juggernaut and paved the way for a new era in reality TV. Back here, a few rising young actors and actresses named John Lloyd Cruz, Baron Geisler, Kaye Abad and Jodi Sta. Maria headlined a new teen drama series named Tabing Ilog.

Iconic cartoon character SpongeBob Square Pants first saw the light of day in 1999, as did the hit TV series The Sopranos.

Meanwhile, everyone was drawing up their “100 best/greatest of the century” listicles as nostalgia permeated virtually every sector of society. Greatest movies, greatest songs, greatest books, greatest athletes, greatest moments…there wasn’t a genre of substance that didn’t have its top 100 rankings.

Technology: Y2K Millennium Bug, Nokia Cellphones, and Floppy Disks

Governments and corporations were in a mad rush to squash the so-called Y2K Millennium Bug, which, according to experts was going to set computer programs back to the year 1900 unless the year field was expanded to four digits before the clock struck midnight on January 1, 2000. It would be catastrophic and potentially apocalyptic, according to the doomsayers. In the end, Y2K turned out to be a dud and reports of the society’s collapse were greatly exaggerated.

Nokia was the most popular cellphone brand, as smartphones were still several years away. This new technology called “texting” was just into vogue as the century winded down. The dotcom boom was in full swing, with this fledgling Internet company called Yahoo! operating the most popular web portal at the time.

Email was starting to creep into both corporate and individual culture, but the preferred mode of communication was still the landline (known back then simply as a telephone) for voice communication and the fax machine (for written communication. Floppy disks were the primary method of storing data, while CDs were where you stored your music.

Sports: ‘Bata’ Inspires a Generation, Yankees’ World Series Win, Man U’s Treble

Formula Shell, led by Benjie Paras, Vic Pablo and Gerry Esplana, captured the PBA Philippine Cup in June 1999 by upsetting Eric the favored Tanduay Rhum Masters in six games. It would be the last PBA title of the Shell franchise. Later in the year, Paras would win his second MVP award.

Manny Pacquiao was still a flyweight (112 pounds) champion in 1999, having defended his World Boxing Council belt in April. It was the first of eight weight classes Pacquiao would eventually conquer.

Don Allado was on his way to his second UAAP MVP award, while leading the DLSU Green Archers to the second of what would be four straight titles. Kerby Raymundo did the same for the Letran Knights, although their championship was more dramatic as they became the first fourth seed to win the NCAA crown.

But the biggest Filipino sports star of 1999 was undoubtedly Efren “Bata” Reyes, who captured the World Pool Championship in Cardiff, Wales and further cemented his place in the sport’s pantheon of greats. His win also sparked a billiards boom in his home country, with pool halls sprouting in virtually street corner. Current Philippine no. 1 Carlo Biado has credited Bata’s win as the catalyst for his decision to take up the sport.

Elsewhere, iconic names emerged victorious to close out the era. The New York Yankees won the last World Series of the century, while Manchester United pulled off a “European Treble,” winning the UEFA Champions League, FA Cup and Premiership. Tiger Woods won the last golf major of the century, pocketing the PGA Championship for his second of what would become 15 major titles.

Banner images by Robin Topacio