1999-00 Los Angeles Lakers Championship Season Part 1/4

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• published: 15 Feb 2011
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The 1999-2000 season was the beginning of a new era in Los Angeles Lakers basketball. The team hired a new head coach in former Chicago Bulls lead man Phil Jackson, and for the first time in 31 years the Lakers would play their home games somewhere other than the Great Western Forum, as the club moved into the brand new 18,997-seat STAPLES Center in Downtown Los Angeles. Jackson brought with him three new assistant coaches in Jim Cleamons (a former player on the Lakers 1971-72 squad), Frank Hamblen and Tex Winter, and along with holdover Bill Bertka, that quartet would form one of the most experienced assistant coaching teams in the NBA. The team also took on a different look as veterans A.C. Green, Ron Harper, John Salley and Brian Shaw were added to the roster. Shaquille O'Neal began the season with a vengeance as he earned NBA Player of the Month honors for November after averaging 28.7 points, 13.4 rebounds and 3.36 blocked shots in the first month of the season. O'Neal continued his dominating ways as he earned Player of the Month honors two more times, in February and March, becoming the first player to receive Player of the Month accolades three different times in the same season. O'Neal was also named the MVP of the 2000 All-Star Game played in Oakland and was joined there for the second time by teammate Kobe Bryant. Not limited to individual efforts, the new coaching staff, the veteran additions, and the returning players all meshed incredibly well as the club got off to a fast start, registering wins in 25 of their first 30 games and reeling off a 16-game winning streak in the first half of the season. The streaks continued as the Lakers also added a 19-game winning streak and an 11-game winning streak to become only the third NBA team to register three different double-figure winning streaks in the same season. The Lakers stormed though the regular season achieving the best record in the league (67-15) and earning homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs. Though they were heavily favored, the team struggled to get out of the first round, needing five games to defeat the Sacramento Kings. The next round was less difficult as the Lakers knocked off the Phoenix Suns in five games. The Western Conference Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers went to seven games, as the Lakers staged a miraculous comeback. Trailing by 13 points entering the fourth quarter of Game Seven, the Lakers fought back to win the game and the Western Conference Championship. Boosted by their improbable comeback, the Lakers went on to defeat the Indiana Pacers in six games, earning their first NBA Championship since 1988. O'Neal (First Team) and Bryant (Second Team) were named to the All-NBA teams and both were also named to the NBA's All-Defensive Teams, with Bryant becoming the youngest player to ever receive All-Defensive honors. O'Neal became only the third player to be named Most Valuable Player of the regular season, All-Star Game and the NBA Finals.