2002 NBA Finals

Background

Road to the Finals

Main article: 2002 NBA playoffs

Regular season series

The Los Angeles Lakers and New Jersey Nets split both games in the regular season, each winning on their home court. FSN New York FSN New York

New Jersey Nets

Main article: 2001–02 New Jersey Nets season

Entering the 2001–02 season, the New Jersey Nets were enduring a three-year playoff drought and had a 73–141 record over that span. In 1999, the Nets hired Rod Thorn as team president and immediately, he hired the recently retired Byron Scott to coach New Jersey. Thorn then dealt for Stephon Marbury in a three-team trade with the Milwaukee Bucks and Minnesota Timberwolves, trading Sam Cassell away to the Bucks. Due to the Nets' 31–51 season in 1999–2000 season, they had the first overall pick in the 2000 NBA draft, which they used to select power forward Kenyon Martin out of the University of Cincinnati. Despite the reshuffling of the roster and an NBA All-Rookie Team season for Martin, New Jersey struggled, ending the season with a 26–56 () record, and owned the 7th pick in the upcoming draft.

With another lottery pick, Thorn dealt it to the Houston Rockets for draftees Richard Jefferson, Jason Collins and Brandon Armstrong. The next day, Phoenix Suns owner Jerry Colangelo announced a franchise-shaking trade; Phoenix would swap their point guard Jason Kidd for his New Jersey counterpart Stephon Marbury.

With the Princeton offense installed from the coaching staff,{{cite web|work = The New York Times

In the first round of the playoffs, New Jersey survived a scare against the Indiana Pacers, escaping game five in double overtime to advance. It was the Nets' first playoff series win since 1984. They then dismissed the Charlotte Hornets in five games before meeting their Atlantic Division rivals, the Boston Celtics, in the conference finals. The Nets and Celtics split the first two games in New Jersey before moving to Boston. In Game 3, the Nets were dominating the Celtics, leading by as much as 21 in the fourth quarter. However, Boston, led by small forward Paul Pierce, then proceeded to outscore New Jersey 41–16 in the final period, rallying to win 94 to 90. Pierce himself scored 19 points, more than the Nets combined in the fourth, to complete the greatest fourth-quarter comeback in NBA playoff history.

The Nets rebounded in a 94–92 Game 4 victory, that saw another Boston comeback, albeit one that fell short because Pierce missed crucial free throws late. New Jersey then took control of the series and won the next two games in large fashion to finish off Boston in six games, earning the franchise's first NBA Finals appearance and becoming the third former American Basketball Association (ABA) team to make the Finals (the Spurs and the Pacers being the first two). With averages of 17.5 points, 11.2 rebounds, and 10.2 assists per game during the six-game conference finals, Kidd become only the fourth player in NBA history to average a triple-double over a course of a series and the second to have at least three.

Los Angeles Lakers

Main article: 2001–02 Los Angeles Lakers season

In stark contrast to New Jersey, the Los Angeles Lakers entered the season with high expectations, having won the last two NBA championships. In addition, Los Angeles was coming off of a 15–1 ( winning percentage) run through the 2001 NBA playoffs, the greatest in NBA history, besting the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers' 12–1 () run and were the first team to go undefeated on the road in the playoffs. Since Phil Jackson had arrived to coach the Lakers in 1999, they had a 123–41 mark in the regular season and a 28–9 record in the postseason.

Amid tensions between co-captains Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, the franchise had another stellar season, finishing 58–24 (), good for second in the Pacific Division and earning the third seed in the Western Conference. Bryant and O'Neal were voted starters in the 2002 NBA All-Star Game, where Bryant won the game MVP trophy in his hometown Philadelphia. The duo appeared on the All-NBA First Team and Bryant was honored with a Second-Team All-Defensive Team selection.

The Lakers shot out to another quick start in the playoffs, finishing the Portland Trail Blazers in three games with a Robert Horry game-winner.{{cite web|publisher=NBA

In Game 4, Sacramento led Los Angeles 40–20 at the end of the first quarter and held a lead as large as 26. But, the Lakers staged a second-half comeback to win 100–99, punctuated by Horry's buzzer-beating three-point shot. Back in Sacramento for Game 5, the Kings staged some late-game heroics of their own as Mike Bibby nailed a jumper with 8.2 seconds remaining, giving his team not only a 92–91 win, but a 3–2 series advantage.

With their season on the line, the Lakers returned home for Game 6. In a controversial contest, one in which the Lakers attempted 27 free throws in the fourth quarter to Sacramento's nine, O'Neal and Bryant had one of their most dominant performances as a duo. O'Neal recorded 41 points and 17 rebounds while Bryant contributed 31 points, 11 rebounds and five assists to force a Game 7 in ARCO Arena. The outrage was such that politician Ralph Nader demanded an investigation. In Game 7, the Lakers prevailed in overtime 112–106 to earn their third straight NBA Finals berth.

Rosters

Los Angeles Lakers

• Phil Jackson ()
• Jim Cleamons ()
• Frank Hamblen ()
• Kurt Rambis ()
• Tex Winter ()

New Jersey Nets

• Byron Scott ()
• Lawrence Frank ()
• Eddie Jordan ()
• Mike O'Koren ()

Series summary

Game summaries

:All times listed below are Eastern Daylight Time. If the venue is located in a different time zone, the local time is also given.

Game 1

• #17 Joe Crawford
• #10 Ron Garretson
• #35 Jack Nies

Los Angeles's Staples Center sold out for the inaugural game of the 2002 NBA Finals, with nearly 19,000 on hand. The Nets trotted out a lineup of Jason Kidd, Kerry Kittles, Kenyon Martin, Keith Van Horn, and Todd MacCulloch to hold up against the two-time defending and heavily favored champions. The Lakers brought out Derek Fisher, Rick Fox, Shaquille O'Neal, Robert Horry, and Kobe Bryant, who drew the assignment of guarding Kidd. New Jersey head coach Byron Scott, a member of the Showtime Lakers, received a standing ovation.

Taking advantage of a late arrival to the arena by New Jersey, L.A. dominated the first 17 minutes of play with a 42–19 score by the 6:41 mark in the second quarter. From that point on, the Nets went on a 17–6 run to close the lead to a respectable 12. They had no answer for O'Neal, however, who had bullied MacCulloch into 16 points and 6 rebounds by half-time. The Nets outscored the Lakers in the third but stood steadfast as Bryant scored 11 of his 22 in the third.

New Jersey battled back, coming as close as three several times in the final quarter. Desperate to take the lead, they utilized the "Hack-a-Shaq" strategy midway in the fourth. It backfired, as O'Neal was 5–8 from the free throw line and had 16 points and 9 rebounds in the period alone.

New Jersey was doomed by their late start and poor shooting. The Nets, who shot 45% from the field and 74% on free throws were 39% and 57% respectively.{{cite news|magazine=Sports Illustrated

Game 2

• #12 Don Vaden
• #15 Bennett Salvatore
• #29 Steve Javie

Game 3

• #26 Bob Delaney
• #43 Dan Crawford
• #27 Dick Bavetta

Game 4

• Ted Bernhardt
• Eddie Rush
• Bernie Fryer

Player statistics

;Los Angeles Lakers

;New Jersey Nets

Media coverage

The Finals were produced and televised in the United States by NBC. The local NBC stations for the competing teams were East Coast flagship WNBC in the New York metropolitan area and West Coast flagship KNBC in Los Angeles. Marv Albert provided play-by-play calling. Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton and Steve "Snapper" Jones handled color duties. Jim Gray and Lewis Johnson roamed the sidelines for the Lakers and Nets respectively. Bob Costas hosted pregame and half-time shows with analyst Tom Tolbert. Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley from TNT's Inside the NBA made special guest appearances during halftime of Game 1. Brent Musburger and Jack Ramsay called the four games on ESPN Radio. Hannah Storm hosted the post-game show.

The finals also had Spanish-language television and radio broadcasts in the United States.

Until 2025, the series was also NBC's final broadcast of the NBA. In January 2002, the league's broadcast rights were awarded to ABC and ESPN in a six-year deal,{{cite web|publisher=SportsBusiness Daily

At the conclusion of Game 4, NBC presented highlights of the twelve years of their NBA broadcasts; among them the Chicago Bulls' dynasty led by Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, the retirements of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers' current Shaq/Kobe reign, as the credits rolled. NBC also played "Winning It All" by The Outfield, which they had used for the close of their NBA Finals broadcasts from 1992 to 1996. The last image displayed was of an empty gym, showing a basketball bouncing into the background, as "To The Flemish Cap" from the soundtrack to the film The Perfect Storm played. NBC ended the broadcast (and their 12-year run broadcasting NBA basketball) by displaying over the shot the message "Thanks for the memories".

The 2002 Finals was also Marv Albert's last NBA Finals assignment. After the series, Albert's national television duties continued with TNT and Albert remained with TNT until his retirement in 2021, but only called games until the conference finals each season.

Will Lyman narrated the season-ending documentary for NBA Entertainment.

2002 NBA Finals Ratings

Impact and aftermath

Lakers

The Lakers victory in this year's Finals would also mark the beginning of what would become a successful year for professional sports teams in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The nearby Anaheim Angels would later claim their first World Series championship four months later. It marked the second occurrence that a city/metropolitan area won both NBA and Major League Baseball championships in the same calendar year. The last time this occurred was in 1988, when the Lakers won that year's NBA Finals in June; the Dodgers followed suit with a World Series victory four months later. In relation to sports of smaller leagues, the Los Angeles Sparks won the WNBA Finals two months after the Lakers' 2002 Finals victory; the Los Angeles Galaxy won the MLS Cup exactly one week prior to the Angels' World Series victory in October. The successes of Los Angeles area teams led Sporting News magazine to declare Anaheim/Los Angeles as "Best Sports City" in 2003. , the Lakers are the last team to pull off a 'three-peat' in North American professional sports. No other team has "three-peated" since this year's Finals. Since then, only four North American professional sports teams have come close to doing so, the NBA's Miami Heat and the Golden State Warriors, the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning, and the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs, however all 4 lost their 3rd consecutive championship appearance after winning the last 2. Whereas the Heat, led by the Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh, made four consecutive NBA Finals appearances since 2011, won back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013 against different teams (Oklahoma City Thunder in 2012 and San Antonio Spurs in 2013), but lost in 2014 to the Spurs. The Warriors, led by the Splash Brothers (Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson), Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, and Kevin Durant, won back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, but ended their 3-peat journey in 2019 as they fell to the Toronto Raptors in six games.

The Lakers were off to a slow start in the 2002–03 NBA season. By this time, the relationship between Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal began to show cracks. Injuries were also starting to slow the Lakers down. Nevertheless, the Lakers won 50 games, but would only earn the fifth seed, thereby not earning the home-court advantage. Still, the Lakers took down the fourth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves in six games. However, they were eliminated by the San Antonio Spurs, who finally earned revenge after their previous two defeats to the Lakers in the 2001 and 2002 NBA playoffs. In Game 5, Robert Horry, a perennial clutch threat in the playoffs, missed a game-winning three that would've given the Lakers a 3–2 lead. The miss eventually led to Horry's free-agent defection to the Spurs the following season.

Nets

The Nets made it back to the Finals in 2003. They won 49 games and the Atlantic Division title, and heading into the Finals they won ten straight games, two in the six-game first round win over the Milwaukee Bucks, and two four-game sweeps of the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons. However, they still came up short, losing in six games to the Spurs, in the first NBA finals series featuring former ABA teams. Rookies Richard Jefferson and Brian Scalabrine would later win NBA championships in their career (Scalabrine with the 2007–08 Boston Celtics and Jefferson with the 2015–16 Cleveland Cavaliers). Star point guard Jason Kidd also won a championship with the 2010–11 Dallas Mavericks in 2011.

Byron Scott later coached the Lakers from 2014 to 2016, the last few years of Kobe Bryant's career.

References

References

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