This Date in NBA Finals History: Los Angeles Lakers Defeat Indiana Pacers in Game 6 in 2000 to Win First of Three Consecutive Championships

Cover photo: Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers posts up on Reggie Miller of the Indiana Pacers during the 2000 NBA Finals. Photo credit: Andrew D. Bernstein, 2000 NBAE.

Ahead of the 1996 NBA Draft, Jerry West sensed something special in Kobe Bryant. 

Bryant, just 17 years old, was out of Lower Merion High School in Philadelphia. As a junior, he was Pennsylvania Player of the Year - 31.1 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 5.2 assists. As a senior, Bryant averaged 30.8 points, 12.0 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 4.0 steals, and 3.8 blocks. He led the program to a 31-3 record, including a 30-game winning streak to conclude the season. The program won their first PIAA State Championship since 1943. 

Bryant was confident. In his pre-draft workout with the Lakers, he went up against a 40-year-old Michael Cooper. Cooper, a 5-time NBA champion and one time Defensive Player of the Year (1987) was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024. He was Showtime’s defensive ace. No matter for the teenage Bryant. 

“He was a natural player who, when he was born, there was a heck of a lot of gold dust sprinkled on this kid,” said West of Bryant two years ago on Paul George’s podcast. 

Said Cooper on the TO and Hatch podcast three years ago, “Kobe was a certain type of individual…it was probably the best workout I’ve ever had. A lot of people say Kobe kicked my ass, I'm going to agree. I think I got after his ass.”

Suffice to say, trading Vlade Divac for Kobe Bryant was a smart move. The Lakers had their guard. All they needed was a big man to pair him with. 

On July 18, 1996, the Lakers signed former Orlando Magic center Shaquille O’Neal to a seven year, $120 million contract. 

Over the next three seasons, the Lakers won 56, 61, and 31 (lockout year) games. In 1997 and 1999, they lost in the Western Conference Semifinals. In 1998, they lost in the Western Conference Finals. 

The season of 1999-00 was different in Los Angeles. It was Phil Jackson’s first season back after a one year hiatus that followed his six championships with the Chicago Bulls. The 1999-00 Lakers won 67 games. Bryant and Derek Fisher were in their third seasons. Devean George, a reliable forward, was a rookie. Robert Horry was in year seven, Rick Fox in year eight. O’Neal was seven years in. Ron Harper (13 years), John Salley, Brian Shaw, Glen Rice (10 years apiece), and AC Green (14 years) all provided seasoned veteran leadership.

Going into the 1999-00 season, the Indiana Pacers were coming off two consecutive Eastern Conference Finals losses. Larry Bird had coached the team to 58 wins in 1997-98 and 33 in 1998-99. The 1999-00 version won 56 games. Reggie Miller, Mark Jackson, and Derrick McKey were in year twelve, Rick Smits year eleven. Chris Mullin was fourteen years in, Sam Perkins fifteen. Dale Davis was in year eight. There was a talented young group of Jalen Rose, Travis Best, one-year player Al Harrington, two-year player Austin Croshere, and a rookie Jonathan Bender. This team was solid. A great mix of veteran and young.

Both teams met in the 2000 Finals. It was the Lakers’ first trip there since 1989, when they were swept by the Detroit Pistons. The Pacers had never made an NBA Final. 

The Lakers won games one and two 104-87 and 111-104, behind monstrous performances from O’Neal - 43 points and 19 rebounds and 40 points and 24 rebounds. The Pacers won Game 3 by a 100-91 score, though O’Neal still played great with 33 points and 13 rebounds. Miller matched him with 33 in that game. In Game 4, a 120-118 Laker win, O’Neal fouled out in overtime. 36 points and 21 rebounds was his contribution for the night. A young Bryant, 21 years old, went back and forth with Miller. Late in overtime, Bryant hit a long two-point jump shot over Miller. Jogging back down the floor, Bryant motioned downward with his hands as if to say “Relax. I got this.” 

Young Kobe with the Afro was different. Still a kid, he ozed confidence. There was nothing that he felt like he could not do. At 19 years old in 1997-98, he did not even start for the Lakers, yet was an all-star and in ‘98’s showcase at Madison Square Garden he challenged Michael Jordan. He had a sense of delusional confidence. All the great ones do.

With the Lakers up one with 1:20 remaining, he hit over Jackson. The kid took over at Conseco Fieldhouse. 28 points in total, 14-of-27 shooting in 47 minutes. A Miller triple from the right side at the buzzer hit the front of the rim. A 3-1 series lead for the Lakers. 

The Pacers dominated Game 5 by a 120-87 count. O’Neal got his points with 35, and 11 rebounds, but Bryant shot just 4-of-20. Rose had a career night with 33 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals on 12-of-18 shooting and 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Miller scored 25 points with 6 assists. He made 4-of-6 from deep. 

In Game 6 back at Staples Center, the Pacers led 56-53 at halftime and 84-79 after three quarters. A 37-27 fourth quarter for the Lakers. A 116-111 win. 41 points and 12 rebounds for O’Neal. 26 points and 10 rebounds for Bryant. The 33-year-old Rice scored 16 points. 29 points for Rose, 25 points for Miller. 20 and 14 from Davis. 16 off the bench for Croshere. A near triple-double of 10 points, 11 assists, and 8 rebounds for Jackson. 

But on this day, nothing was going to stop Kobe and Shaq’s first coronation, the first Laker championship since 1988. O’Neal for the series averaged 38.0 points and 16.7 rebounds. This was a man that at the absolute peak of his powers was unstoppable. Unguardable. Wilt and Shaq forever occupy the spots on the two-man Mount Rushmore of dominant big men. Bryant, 21 years old, averaged 15.6 points per game in the series. He shot 36.7%, but in the next year’s Finals against the Philadelphia 76ers averaged 24.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 5.8 assists. In Game 4 of the 2001 Western Conference Semifinals against the Sacramento Kings, Bryant turned in one of his best playoff performances. Bryant had scored 36 in Game 3, but in Game 4 again on the road at the roaring Arco Arena he produced, like Game 4 in the Finals one season earlier, an all-time playoff performance. Bryant blitzed the Kings for 48 points on 15-of-29 shooting, making 17-of-19 free-throws, and grabbed 16 rebounds.

The Lakers repeated in 2001 in five games and in 2002 swept the New Jersey Nets in the Finals. In ‘02, O’Neal averaged 36.3 points, 12.3 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks. Bryant shot 51.4% and averaged 26.8 points with 5.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists. 

As the buzzer sounded on Game 6 in 2000, O’Neal raised both hands in the air, both index fingers pointing high. Bryant leapt into his arms. With the game clock at nine seconds remaining in 2001’s Game 5, Fox threw an alley-oop to O’Neal. An exclamation point. As the buzzer sounded, Fox grabbed the ball from Eric Snow and gave it to Bryant. As 2002’s Game 4 concluded, Mitch Richmond dribbled the ball out and O’Neal gave him a pat on the head. Bryant congratulated Jason Kidd. Moments later, Bryant, hat sideways, looked into the camera during the on-court celebration, motioning with three fingers. “Three, that’s three, that’s a triple right there.”

Jackson, winning his ninth championship, tied Red Auerbach’s record. O’Neal won his third Finals MVP. He joined Michael Jordan as the only players to win it in three consecutive seasons. 

The Lakers’ sweep of the Nets in 2002 completed a combined 30-5 record over the 2001 and 2002 postseasons. Add in 2000’s 15-8 playoff record, and that is 45-13 over the course of three consecutive playoffs. 

Those Lakers of 2000-2002 are the last teams to 3-peat. The Boston Celtics of the late 1950s-early 1960s and the Chicago Bulls of the 1990s are the only other franchises to win three consecutive championships. 

On June 19, 2000, the Lakers got started on their successful quest.