SportsLine.com Report
June 22, 2000

1999-2000 in review

When the Lakers marched in a parade Wednesday they celebrated more than just an NBA title.

They celebrated relief.

Pressure had begun to mount on the Lakers in March when they began to look almost unbeatable. It was then that they were said to be on an inevitable path toward a coronation. In the end, the crown proved to be theirs. In the playoffs, however, there were moments against the Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers and Indiana Pacers when they looked vulnerable.

In retrospect, they probably were lucky to escape defeat in the Western Conference Finals against the Blazers, who blew a big lead in the fourth quarter of the series-clinching game.

Anything other than the championship would have been a huge disappointment, and the Lakers knew it. They found themselves caught in that classic cliche moment: Everything to lose and not much to gain.

Now, they can breathe easy and prepare for a season in which they might be better. Certainly, there will be less pressure. And, probably, there will be a very different roster to go with the combo, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant.

"This isn't the same team you're going to see next season," said Magic Johnson, a former Lakers great and team vice president. "We're not going to be afraid to pull the trigger."

Not after they ducked a few bullets.

SEASON HIGHLIGHT: A 19-game win streak. The Lakers put the rest of the league on notice that their title aspirations were serious on Feb. 4 with 113-67 blowout of the Utah Jazz. The run ended more than a month later, March 16, with a 109-102 loss at Washington

SEASON LOWLIGHT: It came in the beginning. Bryant missed the season's first 15 games with a broken right hand. There's no telling what the Lakers might have been able to accomplish had Bryant been able to play alongside O'Neal from the beginning. They won 67 games in the regular season as it is and probably would have made a better run at 70.

KEY STAT: O'Neal averaged 29.7 points, 13.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 3.04 blocks. Those are individual numbers, but they sum up a key to a team that, in the end, made it unstoppable.

The Personnel File

MVP: Make it a hat trick for O'Neal, the league's MVP, All-Star game MVP and MVP of the NBA Finals. Unless Kobe Bryant turns into the second Michael Jordan, O'Neal figures to be the Lakers MVP for quite awhile. Some are predicting a decade.

BIGGEST SURPRISE: Coach Phil Jackson. Who would have guessed he would have been able to win his seventh championship ring in his first season without Michael Jordan?

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: Glen Rice. Who else? He never fulfilled the preseason billing that made him the strong triangle complement to O'Neal and Bryant.

Rice needs to run through screens to be effective with his low-range shooting. He might have to do that somewhere else.

COACH: When O'Neal accepted the MVP trophy for the NBA Finals, he called Jackson the "real Coach of the Year." In retrospect, O'Neal has a very powerful argument. Before training camp at the University of California-Santa Barbara, the guess was that it would take Jackson a season to turn this team of underachievers into overachievers.

But he managed to turn the trick within a season. A key was his ability to get O'Neal and Bryant, first, to co-exist and, then, to enjoy playing together. For the Lakers, the good news is that Jackson might have been pointing to the 2000-2001 season as the one in which he would have his best L.A. team.

Offseason tinkering

THE DRAFT: With the last pick (No. 29) in what is thought to be a weak draft, don't look for much help here.

FREE-AGENT MARKET:As a free agent, Rice figures to be gone, although he said at Wednesday's parade that he looked "forward to be being back here next year to do it again."

Don't bet on it. Rice already is being linked to a speculated sign-and-trade-deal with Philadelphia for Toni Kukoc, who played for Jackson in Chicago and is a lot more comfortable in the triangle than Rice.

Brian Shaw and John Salley also are free agents. Ron Harper and A.C. Green appear headed for retirement. Derek Fisher already is being mentioned as a possibility in a trade. The Lakers are searching for a power forward. Brian Grant? He's hinted that he might opt out of a big-money contract with Portland, but would he be willing to turn his back on a $9 million salary next year with the Trail Blazers for a lot less with the Lakers?

A chance at a championship ring can be pretty convincing. There's also speculation about the Lakers trying to make a deal for Pacers forward Austin Croshere.