Shaq & Kobe

Jet, July 10, 2000

LEAD LAKERS TO FIRST NBA CHAMPIONSHIP IN 12 YEARS

The giant and the kid finally got it done!

NBA Most Valuable Player Shaquille O'Neal and superstar guard Kobe Bryant helped lead the Los Angeles Lakers to its first championship in 12 years.

The Lakers defeated the Indiana Pacers four games to two with the 7-foot-1, 330-pound O'Neal averaging 38 points and 16 rebounds in the series. He was also named MVP of the championship series.

Shaq was moved to tears as the clock ran down to zero at Los Angeles' packed Staples Center. He'd won his first championship title since in college (Louisiana State University) or at the professional level. He competed in the NBA finals when the Orlando Magic was swept by the Houston Rockets in the mid-1990s.

O'Neal, 28, explained his emotional display to reporters by saying: "It just came out. I've held the emotion for 11 years, three years of college, eight years in the league. I took a lot of bashing: `He's not working hard.' For a while there can be no `buts' behind my name. I always wanted to win ... This is what I wanted growing up."

And he did in extraordinarily convincing style. Showing just how big a work horse he is, O'Neal played virtually the entire 48 minutes in some games, blocking shots, scoring more than 40 points and, believe-it-or-not, making clutch free throws. For much of his career he was plagued with poor free-throw shooting and became the butt of jokes by comics like Jay Leno for it. But, he got the last laugh, dramatically improving his foul-shooting and helping his team build leads from the foul line. And that's something even diehard Shaq fans never expected.

Bryant, a four-year veteran at the ripe old age of 21, told reporters: "Hard work pays off. If at first you don't succeed, keep trying, keep pushing." He said he and his teammates are expecting to repeat it all next year. "Are we looking to come back next year and defend our throne? Absolutely!" he said.

O'Neal echoed the sentiment, saying, "We're going to get one next year, too."

The Lakers had been labeled a team full of talented superstars who lacked the understanding of the concept called "team ball." Phil Jackson, who coached the Chicago Bulls to six titles in the 1990s, changed all that in just one season, helping the team end the season with the best record in the NBA.

A Chicago Tribune sports writer said the Lakers in recent years were swept more than a welcome mat after being ousted four games to none two years in a row. They fell to the Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs in '98 and '99.

But no more! From the beginning of the season, the team demonstrated far more confidence than fans had seen in many years. They played team defense and ratcheted up their offensive performances.

In fact, it first appeared the Lakers would sweep the best of seven series when they won the first two games 104-87 and 111-104. However, the Pacers stormed back in Game 3 winning 100-91. The Lakers won Game 4's overtime thriller 120-118, but the Pacers, facing defeat at their final home game in the series, battled to a 120-87 victory over the Lakers in Game 5. That victory only delayed the Lakers' inevitable march to the NBA championship.

Though Shaq and Kobe got the lion's share of points and attention as the superstars, in the final, nail-biting game which the Lakers won 116111, Robert Horry helped cement the victory with eight clutch points in the fourth quarter, including two huge three-point shots. Veterans Ron Harper, Rick Fox and Glen Rice also hit key shots that kept Indiana from forcing a seventh game.

The Lakers title ends a 12-year drought in Los Angeles, a city that hasn't had a champion of any kind since Magic Johnson (now a part owner of the team) and company brought home a title in 1988. Title-starved fans poured into the streets to celebrate the victory.

In a demonstration that his heart is about as big as his 7-foot-1 frame, O'Neal told the crowd of 250,000 who gathered to celebrate the victory that he and the Lakers would pay to replace the two police cars destroyed during the violence that occurred during the victory celebration.

Sure, they did it the hard way, having been taken to tough and heart-stopping final games by the Sacramento Kings and Portland Trail-blazers before facing the Eastern Conference-champion Indiana Pacers. But, for many fans, that just made the team all the more exciting.

The Lakers are one of the NBA's most successful teams of all times. They've won 12 titles, with the first five coming in Minneapolis. Five were won in the 1980s with the superstar duo of Magic and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Now, with the dynamic duo of Shaq and Kobe, many are wondering if the 2000 title is just the beginning.