2000-01 Los Angeles Lakers Championship Season Part 1/4

With a nucleus that included two of the NBA's best players in Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant and a head coach that has won seven NBA titles in Phil Jackson, the Lakers began the season with aspirations of winning a second consecutive NBA Championship.




After struggling to contain the Western Conference's high scoring power forwards in the playoffs, Los Angeles dealt Glen Rice and Travis Knight to the New York Knicks in a three-way deal involving the Seattle SuperSonics, which netted power forward Horace Grant and center Greg Foster. Having played under Jackson earlier in their careers, both Grant and Foster were skilled in running the Lakers triangle offense, and Grant was to provide a solid defensive and rebounding presence.

Derek Fisher began the season on the injured list after being diagnosed with a stress fracture in his right foot and would miss the first 62 games of the season. The rest of the team also got off to a slow start and was 31-16 at the All-Star break, already picking up one more loss than during the entire 1999-2000 campaign. The Lakers battled through injuries to Fisher, O'Neal and Bryant, but as the club returned to full health, the Lakers began to pick up steam heading into the postseason.

After a 96-88 win over the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center on April 3, the Lakers ran off eight consecutive victories, their longest winning streak of the season, and were able to claim their second consecutive Pacific Division title, edging out the Sacramento Kings in the last week of the season. Los Angeles would not lose another contest until Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Philadelphia 76ers, sweeping Portland, Sacramento and San Antonio. Philadelphia surprised the Lakers with a 107-101 overtime victory at STAPLES Center, but Los Angeles went on to victories in each of the next four games to claim a second consecutive NBA title.

O'Neal was named Finals MVP after averaging 33.0 points and 15.8 rebounds against Philadelphia and was again a First Team All-NBA selection. Fisher returned from injury to convert 35 three-pointers throughout the playoffs, setting an NBA record with 15 threes in the four-game series against San Antonio. Bryant earned Second Team All-NBA and Second-Team All-Defense honors.

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[thug8200]

@kokfz bull shit he should have won mvp period 29 6-5 get the hell out of here he carried us this season

[paul941]

@jmcook96 I'm sure 15-1 is a greater feat than 72-10 since it occurred in the Playoffs, the real season

[jmcook96]

Mike is saying to the 2001 lakers, "Your ring didn't say 72 - 10."

[PhilBurr100]

@kenny6449 Antawn Jamison had 51 the same game so....

[GreenScreen619]

IMO one if the best teams ever..1loss the whole post season.damn

[kokfz]

kobe didnt deseve the mvp this in 2001 the way he made the lakers struggle

[kokfz]

kobe didnt deseve the mvp this year the way he made the lakers struggle

[thug8200]

kobe should have won mvp this season

[thug8200]

@kenny6449 thats what imsayin

[ESSJ333]

@kenny6449 one man show