The 2000 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1999-2000 National Basketball Association season. The Los Angeles Lakers of the Western Conference took on the Indiana Pacers of the Eastern Conference for the title, with the Lakers holding home court advantage. The series is played under a best-of-seven format, so the first team to collect four game victories wins the series.

The Lakers won the series 4 games to 2. Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal was named the Most Valuable Player of the series. Until 2008, this was the last NBA Finals where both number one seeds from each conference faced off.

The Lakers were one of the most talented teams in the NBA, but despite this, they were swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the 1999 NBA playoffs. Twenty-four days after being swept by the eventual NBA Champion, the Lakers signed Phil Jackson as head coach. Jackson, who coached the 6-time champion Chicago Bulls would build his triangle offense around Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. General Manager Jerry West surrounded Shaq and Kobe with role players such as Glen Rice; Ron Harper, who had experience with Jackson's triangle offense as part of the '96-'98 Chicago Bulls; and A. C. Green, a member of the last two Laker championship teams.

The NBA Finals is the championship series of the NBA. The series was named the NBA World Championship Series until 1986.

The series is played between the winners of Western Conference Finals and Eastern Conference Finals. At the conclusion of the championship round, the winners of the NBA Finals are awarded the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy. (Winners from 1946 to 1977 received the Walter A. Brown Trophy) The NBA Finals has been played at the conclusion of every NBA and BAA season in history, the first being held in 1947.

Since 1985, the winner of the NBA Finals has been determined through a 2–3–2 format. The first two and the last two games of the series are played at the arena of the team who earned home court advantage by having the better record during the regular season.

During the first decade the Minneapolis Lakers had the first NBA dynasty, winning 5 championships in 6 years under Hall of Fame head coach John Kundla. The team also featured George Mikan, one of the greatest players in the history of the NBA. Franchises which had previously been in the National Basketball League tended to dominate, especially the Minneapolis Lakers.

Kobe Bean Bryant (born August 23, 1978) is an American professional basketball player who plays shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Bryant enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Lower Merion High School, where he was recognized as the top high school basketball player in the country. He decided to declare his eligibility for the NBA Draft upon graduation, and was selected with the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets, then traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. As a rookie, Bryant earned himself a reputation as a high-flyer and a fan favorite by winning the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest.

Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers to three consecutive NBA championships from 2000 to 2002. A heated feud between the duo and a loss in the 2004 NBA Finals was followed by O'Neal's trade from the Lakers after the 2003–04 season. Following O'Neal's departure Bryant became the cornerstone of the Los Angeles Lakers franchise. He led the NBA in scoring during the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons, setting numerous scoring records in the process. In 2006, Bryant scored a career-high 81 points against the Toronto Raptors, the second most points scored in a single game in NBA history, second only to Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game in 1962. He was awarded the regular season's Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) in 2008. After losing in the 2008 NBA Finals, Bryant led the Lakers to two consecutive championships in 2009 and 2010, earning the NBA Finals MVP Award on both occasions.

Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( /ʃəˈkiːl/ shə-KEEL; born March 6, 1972), nicknamed "Shaq" ( /ˈʃæk/ SHAK), is a retired American basketball player and current analyst on the television program Inside the NBA. Standing 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) tall and weighing 325 pounds (147 kg), he was one of the heaviest players ever to play in the NBA. Throughout his 19-year career, O'Neal used his size and strength to overpower opponents for points and rebounds.

Following his career at Louisiana State University, O'Neal was drafted by the Orlando Magic with the first overall pick in the 1992 NBA Draft. He quickly became one of the top centers in the league, winning Rookie of the Year in 1992–93 and later leading his team to the 1995 NBA Finals. After four years with the Magic, O'Neal signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers. He won three consecutive championships in 2000, 2001, and 2002. Amid tension between O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat in 2004, and his fourth NBA championship followed in 2006. Midway through the 2007–2008 season he was traded to the Phoenix Suns. After a season-and-a-half with the Suns, O'Neal was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2009–10 season. O'Neal played for the Boston Celtics in the 2010–11 season before retiring.

Jalen Anthony Rose (born January 30, 1973) is a retired American professional basketball player and current sports analyst for the television network ESPN. In college, he was a member of the University of Michigan Wolverines' "Fab Five" (along with Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson) that reached the 1992 and 1993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship games as both Freshmen and Sophomores. Rose played in the NBA for six teams, most notably alongside Reggie Miller on the Indiana Pacers teams which made three consecutive Eastern Conference finals, including the 2000 NBA Finals.

As a star at Southwestern High School in Detroit, Rose obtained a high profile and can even be seen at a high school All-American camp in the documentary film, Hoop Dreams. Rose attended the University of Michigan where the Wolverines reached two NCAA Finals games in 1992 and 1993, finishing as national runners up both times. Rose was a part of Wolverines coach Steve Fisher's legendary 1991 recruiting class, dubbed the "Fab Five". He led the Fab Five in scoring his freshman year, averaging 19 points per game, and set the school freshman scoring record with 597 total points. Aside from being the most outspoken of the Fab Five, Rose was also their point guard and leader. During his career, he racked up over 1700 points, 400 rebounds, 400 assists, and 100 steals. Of the players called before the grand jury (Robert Traylor, Webber, Rose, Maurice Taylor, and Louis Bullock) in the University of Michigan basketball scandal, he was the only one not listed as having received large amounts of money.