The buzzer had just sounded on a Suns loss. It wasn't one of those crippling, memorable defeats that fans remember for years after, but it was a loss I'll never forget myself.
It was what happened after that random 1999 contest that made it memorable. I was 15 years old and attending the game with a friend. He suggested we take the trek from our seats down to the side of the court in hopes of catching a player's attention. Young fans have always done this. I expect they always will, hoping against hope that one of those professional athletes from a far different world than their own will deign to notice and, perhaps, acknowledge them.