Past Blast

WE ALL HAVE THEM: Those faded photos from our youth that in retrospect are both cringeworthy (that hair! those braces!) and unmistakable indicators of what we'd become later in life (those dimples! that smirk!). SI.com, which was launched 20 years ago this month, is no different, as a tour through the nonprofit digital museum at archive.org quickly proves. The so-called Wayback Machine preserves near-daily snapshots of the Internet through the decades, such as the image below of our home page (then known as cnnsi.com) on one of the biggest news days of our first year: Dec. 10, 1997, the day after Warriors guard Latrell Sprewell made a public apology for choking his coach, P.J. Carlesimo. (Golden State a dysfunctional franchise—yes, kids, this is ancient history.) We know that SI.com has evolved since this primitive stage. But whatever happened to some of that day's headline makers?

LATRELL SPREWELL

Spree served a 68-game suspension for his 1997 outburst, then played seven more NBA seasons (and led the Knicks to the '99 Finals). His last public appearance: a return to MSG in February to take in a game with Knicks owner and former nemesis James Dolan.

P.J. CARLESIMO

He lasted as Warriors coach until December 1999, then had nondescript stints with the Sonics, Thunder and Nets. He's now an analyst for ESPN.

ANFERNEE HARDAWAY

Penny retired from the NBA in 2007; he's now coaching at East High in his native Memphis.

SHAQUILLE O'NEAL

He's nearly as visible now as he was then—and check out page 60 for one branch of his legacy beyond basketball.

DENNIS ECKERSLEY

The incomparable closer was correct—he retired after the 1998 season. Now a Red Sox broadcaster, he became a Hall of Famer in 2004.