SportsCentury

In 2005, Don King and his promotional company, Don King Productions, Inc. filed a $2.5 billion defamation suit against the Walt Disney Company, the current owners of ESPN and ABC Cable Networks Group, and Advocate Communications, after a documentary alleged that King had "killed, not once, but twice", threatened to break Larry Holmes' legs, had a hospital invest into a film that was never made, cheated Meldrick Taylor out of $1 million, and then threatened to have Taylor killed. Though the documentary repeated many claims that were already made, King said he had now had enough. King's attorney said "It was slanted to show Don in the worst way. It was one-sided from day one, Don is a strong man, but he has been hurt by this."[5]

The case was dismissed on summary judgment with a finding that King could not show "actual malice" from the defendants, and that King had failed to prove that any of the challenged statements were false. The judgement also pointed out that the studio had tried on a number of occasions to interview King for the documentary, but he had declined; while not suggesting that King had a legal obligation to do so, the court sympathized with ESPN's circumstances on those grounds. King appealed the decision and, 3 years later, the Second District Court of Appeals upheld the summary judgement, but disagreed with the original finding that none of the statements were false. In any case, Judge Dorian Damoorgian ruled, "Nothing in the record shows that ESPN purposefully made false statements about King in order to bolster the theme of the program or to inflict harm on King".[6]

• 1972 Olympic Men's Basketball Final
• 1977 British Open
• Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals ("The Flu Game")
• Ball Four
• Epic in Miami (Chargers vs. Dolphins)
• New York Yankees
• Jerry's Cowboys
• Bears 46 defense
• Villanova vs. Georgetown (1985 NCAA Championship)
• Disciples of Jackie Robinson
• 1999 Ryder Cup

"Greatest Games" was a top ten countdown of the best games/matches voted on from a wide variety of team and individual sports.

1. "The Greatest Game Ever Played" – (1958 NFL Championship): Baltimore Colts vs. New York Giants (1958)
2. The Shot Heard 'Round the World – Bobby Thomson's home run (1951)
3. Super Bowl III – New York Jets defeat Baltimore Colts (1969)
4. Miracle on Ice – U.S.A defeats U.S.S.R. (1980)
5. "Thrilla in Manila" – Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier (1975)
6. "Ice Bowl" – Green Bay vs. Dallas (1967)
7. Game 6 of the 1975 World Series – Carlton Fisk's home run (1975)
8. Tiger Woods wins the Masters (1997)
9. Willis Reed and Knicks beat Lakers in Game 7 (1970)
10. Borg-McEnroe Wimbledon thriller (1980)

"Greatest Coaches" was a top ten countdown of the best coaches voted on from a wide variety of team sports

1. Vince Lombardi
2. John Wooden
3. Red Auerbach
4. Dean Smith
5. Bear Bryant
6. John McGraw
7. George Halas
8. Don Shula
9. Paul Brown
10. Knute Rockne

• New York Yankees
• Boston Celtics
• Montreal Canadiens
• John Wooden's UCLA Bruins (1960s and 1970s)
• Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team (1946–1949)
• Dallas Cowboys (1990s)
• Atlanta Braves (1990s)
• Chicago Bulls (1990s)
• San Francisco 49ers (1980s)

Another top ten countdown special, focusing on influential figures in sports during the twentieth century, namely off-the-field contributors.

1. Branch Rickey
2. Pete Rozelle
3. Roone Arledge
4. Marvin Miller
5. Kenesaw Mountain Landis
6. David Stern
7. Avery Brundage
8. Walter O'Malley
9. George Halas
10. Mark McCormack

Also included in the overall production was "SportsCenter of the Decade", a series of six two-hour programs (1900–1949, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s). Each episode was presented as a fictional episode of SportsCenter, in the way ESPN would have covered the events at the time (styles, studio/production design, and other various pop culture references).[12]