10 Greatest Comeback Stories in NBA History

Comebacks are some of the most memorable things that can happen in all of sports. 

Whether a player makes a return from an injury, a legend unretires or a team snatches victory from the jaws of defeat, they create history. Technically, everything that happens on a basketball court becomes part of history, but these moments are the ones that actually stand out. 

To highlight some of the greatest comebacks in NBA history as we keep our fingers crossed that we can come back from this lockout to actually have a season, I've created 10 categories of comebacks and found the greatest one for each category. 

Read on to discover both the categories and the winners. 

Greatest Comeback from Retirement: Michael Jordan

We're going to start out with a fairly obvious one here. 

No player has retired or come back from retirement in a more famous fashion than the greatest player of all time: Michael Jordan. 

After he was burned out from winning championships and living through the death of his father, Jordan originally retired so that he could attempt to live up to his father's dream of him playing professional baseball. After an unsuccessful stint with the Chicago White Sox's minor league affiliates, Jordan uttered the famous words, "I'm back," and came back to the Bulls. 

He won a few more championships and MVP awards before retiring again after his famous last shot against the Utah Jazz.

Then he unretired once more and played with the Washington Wizards. 

Greatest Comeback from Devastating Injury: Shaun Livingston

Warning: This video is not for the squeamish. 

Shaun Livingston gets this spot just because of the ridiculousness of his injury and the fact that he actually managed to enter the league again after it. 

When Livingston went down, he tore his ACL, lateral meniscus and PCL, badly sprained his MCL and dislocated his patella and tibia-femoral joint. 

He sat out all of the 2007-'08 season, then returned with the Miami Heat the next year, playing in just four games. Now, Livingston is with the Milwaukee Bucks. He spent last season with the Charlotte Bobcats, for whom he averaged 6.6 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. 

Greatest Comeback from Injury in Playoffs: Willis Reed

The words "Here comes Willis!" have been firmly established in the minds of many basketball fans. 

When Willis Reed unexpectedly limped out of the tunnel of Madison Square Garden before Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals, everyone present and watching went absolutely nuts. Then he proceeded to hit his first two shots of the game and spark the Knicks to a dramatic win. 

Without Reed's inspiration, who knows how that series would have turned out. 

Greatest Regular Season Single-Game Comeback: Utah Jazz

At one point during this game, the Utah Jazz were actually down by 36 points to the Denver Nuggets. Playing at home, the Jazz managed to crawl all the way back and complete the largest single-game comeback in NBA history. 

The game took place on Nov. 27, 1996 and ended in a 107-103 Jazz win. 

Obviously, since it took place in 1996, the game was highlighted by John Stockton and Karl Malone. Stockton had nine points, 10 assists and four steals while The Mailman had 31 points, 17 rebounds and six assists. 

Greatest Playoff Single-Game Comeback: Los Angeles Lakers

Down 29 points in Game 4 of a playoff series in 1989 against the Seattle Super Sonics, the Los Angeles Lakers came all the way back to score a 97-95 win and complete a sweep of the team in green.

Even though this game didn't feature as big a comeback point-wise, the stage had to make it even more impressive than the comeback featured on the previous slide.  

Greatest Comeback in 35 Seconds: Tracy McGrady

Just watch the video. 

Tracy McGrady was absolutely on fire at the end of this game against the San Antonio Spurs. The degree of difficulty on some of these shots is absolutely off the charts. 

The game took place on Dec. 9, 2004. McGrady's final line read: 33 points, eight points, two assists and five steals. 

Greatest Comeback in 9 Seconds: Reggie Miller

Of all of Reggie Miller's great moments, this may be the absolute best one. 

In Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the New York Knicks, Miller exploded for eight points in the last nine seconds of the game to will his team back to victory. 

Miller drilled a three-pointer, stole the inbounds pass from Anthony Mason, stepped back to hit another three, then got fouled a few seconds later after grabbing a rebound on John Starks' second-straight missed free throw and nailed both of his foul shots to give the Indiana Pacers a 107-105 win. 

Greatest Fourth Quarter Comeback: Milwaukee Bucks

As much as it pains me to put this one on here, I have to, seeing as this game included the largest fourth-quarter comeback in NBA history. 

Playing an away game against the Atlanta Hawks on Nov. 25, 1977, the Milwaukee Bucks were down by 29 points (111-82) with just 8:43 remaining in the game. 

After a 35-4 scoring spree, the Bucks ended up with an unexpected victory, taking home the win 117-115. 

Greatest Comeback from Cab Driving: Dave Cowens

Dave Cowens was one of the most passionate basketball players in the history of the NBA. While not as physically talented as many of his contemporaries, Cowens got by because of his sheer will to win and to do whatever was necessary for his Boston Celtics. 

At one point during the 1977 season, Cowens actually decided that he couldn't devote everything he had to the game. He took a leave of absence from the team and worked as a cab driver until he had enough motivation to rejoin the team.

The very next year, he became the first player to ever lead his team in points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals. 

Greatest Single Player, Single Game Comeback: Paul Millsap

Paul Millsap would not allow his Utah Jazz to lose to the Miami Heat on this particular night. 

As the cherry on top of his 46-point performance, Millsap scored 11 points in the last 28 seconds of this November 9, 2010 game. Down eight at the beginning of his outburst, the Jazz came back to force overtime in a game they would eventually win 116-114. 

Millsap finished with 46 points, nine rebounds, one assists, one steal and one block and was the dominant force in a game that involved a triple-double from LeBron James, a 39-point game from Dwyane Wade and a 22-point lead for the Heat at one point. 

The forward shot 19-for-28 from the field and hit three straight three-pointers during his remarkable run at the end of regulation. Prior to this game, Millsap had made only two three-pointers in 20 career attempts. As Chris Bosh said, "I'd never seen him hit a three before."

Adam Fromal is a syndicated writer and Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report. Follow him on   Twitter.

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