2001 NBA Finals

2001 basketball championship series May 2023 February 2024 2001NBAFinals.png NBA 2001 Philadelphia 76ers Larry Brown 1 Los Angeles Lakers Phil Jackson 4 June 6–15 Shaquille O'Neal(Los Angeles Lakers) Lakers:Kobe Bryant (2020)Shaquille O'Neal (2016)76ers:Allen Iverson (2016)Dikembe Mutombo (2015)Coaches:Larry Brown (2002)Phil Jackson (2007)Tex Winter (2011)Officials:Dick Bavetta (2015)Danny Crawford (2025)Hugh Evans (2022) 76ers defeated Bucks, 4–3 Lakers defeated Spurs, 4–0 thumb|Shaquille O'Neal is the first Los Angeles Lakers player to win two consecutive NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Awards (2001). The 2001 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2000–01 season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The defending NBA champion and Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers took on the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia 76ers for the championship, with the Lakers holding home-court advantage via the better record against the opposite conference tiebreakerNBA Playoffs 2001 - Season-ending loss cost Sixers homecourt edge https://www.espn.com/nba/playoffs2001/2001/0604/1209455.html 2024-06-15 www.espn.com in a best-of-seven format. After losing the first game at home, the Lakers won the next four games to clinch their second consecutive title and thirteenth overall. By the end of the series, the 2000–01 Lakers held the record for the best postseason record with 15–1. It was later surpassed after the NBA extended the first round series to a best-of-seven series by the 2016–17 Golden State Warriors. Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the second consecutive year, after outstanding performances averaging 33.0 points, 15.8 rebounds, and 3.4 blocks per game. Ranking the 10 Best NBA Playoff Runs Ever https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2894314-ranking-the-10-best-nba-playoff-runs-ever July 23, 2021 Bleacher Report Background 2001 NBA playoffs The Los Angeles Lakers entered the 2000–01 NBA season as the defending NBA champions. The club lost a few players to free agency, but they signed veteran players like Isaiah Rider and Horace Grant. The Lakers began the season struggling on and off the court, as they were losing games at the beginning with the Shaq–Kobe feud. Injuries also riddled the team as they struggled through the season. But by April 1, 2001, the Lakers last loss was to the New York Knicks and they never looked back as the team closed out the season on an eight-game winning streak, thus finishing the season 56-26 and closing out as the number 2 seed in the West behind the San Antonio Spurs. The Lakers began the 2001 NBA playoffs versus the team against whom they played the previous year in the Western Conference finals, the Portland Trail Blazers. The Trail Blazers were a team that struggled throughout the season but battled back to claim the 7th seed. The series wasn't close, as the Lakers swept the Trail Blazers by double digits in all three games. In the semifinals the Lakers took on the Sacramento Kings, a team who had also given the Lakers a tough series the previous season, but the Lakers took two close games at home and went to Sacramento to finish the Kings off with a 4–0 sweep as well. In the conference finals the Lakers went up against the number 1 seed San Antonio Spurs, who were expected to be more competitive than the Lakers' previous opponents. But the Lakers took games 1 and 2 in San Antonio, and then blew them out in games 3 and 4 in Los Angeles in another complete sweep as they became the second team in NBA history to sweep the conference playoffs at 11–0, the 1988–1989 Los Angeles Lakers being the first. The Lakers met a snag on their quest to the first NBA sweep in playoff history as they went up against Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers, seeded number 1 in the Eastern Conference, had just come out of two straight seven-game series against the Toronto Raptors and Milwaukee Bucks. The Lakers held home-court advantage over the 76ers, with whom they had an identical regular-season record and split two regular-season matchups, on the tiebreaker of having a better record against teams in the opposite conference. Despite this, during the first game, the trio of Iverson, Dikembe Mutombo and Eric Snow, coming hot off a long Eastern Conference championship road, beat the Lakers in overtime, showcasing their endurance. The Lakers then took Game 2. Afterwards, Kobe Bryant was quoted as saying he was coming to Philadelphia to cut their hearts out.https://www.espn.com/nba/news/story?id=2793418 Kobe visits former school to say hi, 'smell the gym' March 9, 2007 Associated Press ESPN.com The Sixers dropped all three games in Philadelphia, giving the Lakers their second straight championship. Road to the Finals 2001 NBA playoffs Los Angeles Lakers (Western Conference champion) Philadelphia 76ers (Eastern Conference champion)LAL2nd seed in the West, 2nd-best league recordRegular seasonPHI1st seed in the East, 3rd-best league recordDefeated the (7) Portland Trail Blazers, 3–0First roundDefeated the (8) Indiana Pacers, 3–1Defeated the (3) Sacramento Kings, 4–0Conference semifinalsDefeated the (5) Toronto Raptors, 4–3Defeated the (1) San Antonio Spurs, 4–0Conference finalsDefeated the (2) Milwaukee Bucks, 4–3 Regular season series Both teams split the two meetings, each won by the home team: #fff December 5, 2000 Philadelphia 76ers 85 Los Angeles Lakers |score2=96 Staples Center, Los Angeles, California February 14, 2001 Los Angeles Lakers 97 Philadelphia 76ers |score2=112 First Union Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 2001 NBA Finals rosters Los Angeles Lakers Los Angeles Lakers 2000–01 8 Kobe Bryant G/F 6 6 220 Lower Merion HS (PA) 2 Derek Fisher G 6 1 205 Arkansas-Little Rock 40 Greg Foster basketball F/C 6 11 240 UTEP 17 Rick Fox F 6 7 235 North Carolina 3 Devean George F 6 8 240 Augsburg 54 Horace Grant F/C 6 10 245 Clemson 4 Ron Harper G 6 6 185 Miami (OH) 5 Robert Horry F 6 10 240 Alabama 10 Tyronn Lue G 6 0 175 Nebraska 35 Mark Madsen basketball F 6 9 245 Stanford 14 Slava Medvedenko F 6 10 253 Ukraine IN 34 Shaquille O'Neal C 7 1 338 Louisiana State 12 Mike Penberthy G 6 3 180 The Master's College IN 7 Isaiah Rider G/F 6 5 215 UNLV IN 20 Brian Shaw basketball G 6 6 205 UC Santa Barbara USA Phil Jackson (North Dakota) USA Tex Winter (Southern California) USA Jim Cleamons (Ohio State) USA Frank Hamblen (Syracuse) http://www.nba.com/lakers/stats/2001/index.html February 21, 2001 Philadelphia 76ers Philadelphia 76ers 2000–01 #000000 #FFFFFF #ED174C #FFFFFF 19 Raja Bell G 6 5 204 Florida International 23 Rodney Buford G/F 6 5 189 Creighton 12 Speedy Claxton G 5 11 166 Hofstra yes 52 Matt Geiger C 7 0 243 Georgia Tech 40 Tyrone Hill F/C 6 9 240 Xavier 3 Allen Iverson G 6 0 165 Georgetown 33 Jumaine Jones F 6 8 218 Georgia 9 George Lynch basketball F 6 8 218 North Carolina 50 Todd MacCulloch C 7 0 280 Washington 8 Aaron McKie G 6 5 209 Temple 7 Roshown McLeod F 6 8 221 Duke 55 Dikembe Mutombo C 7 2 245 Georgetown 5 Kevin Ollie G 6 4 195 Connecticut 4 Pepe Sánchez Juan Ignacio Sánchez G 6 4 195 Temple 20 Eric Snow G 6 3 190 Michigan State USA Larry Brown (North Carolina) USA Randy Ayers (Miami (OH)) USA John Kuester (North Carolina) https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/PHI/2001.html Series summary Times listed are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4). For games in Los Angeles, the local time is also given (PDT, UTC−7). Game Date Road team Result Home team Game 1 June 6 Philadelphia 76ers 107–101 (OT) (1–0) Los Angeles Lakers Game 2 June 8 Philadelphia 76ers 89–98 (1–1) Los Angeles Lakers Game 3 June 10 Los Angeles Lakers 96–91 (2–1) Philadelphia 76ers Game 4 June 13 Los Angeles Lakers 100–86 (3–1) Philadelphia 76ers Game 5 June 15 Los Angeles Lakers 108–96 (4–1) Philadelphia 76ers Game 1 #eee June 6 9:30 pm ET (6:30 pm PT) Staples Center, Los Angeles, California NBC Philadelphia 76ers |score1=107 Los Angeles Lakers 101 OT https://web.archive.org/web/20090509143019/http://www.nba.com/finals2001/recap_phi_lal_010606.html May 9, 2009 Recap 22–23 34–27 23–27 15–17 13–7 Allen Iverson 48 Shaquille O'Neal 44 Dikembe Mutombo 16 Shaquille O'Neal 20 Aaron McKie 9 Bryant, Fox, O'Neal 5 each 18,997 No. 27 Dick Bavetta No. 10 Ron Garretson No. 17 Joe Crawford Philadelphia leads the series, 1–0 The Lakers dominated early, in what looked like to be their fourth series sweep. Scoring 16 straight points, the Lakers took a 21–9 lead over the Allen Iverson-led 76ers. Despite this major lead, Iverson began dominating at the half of the 2nd quarter scoring 30 first half points. The 76ers turned the game around and even went up by 15 points during the third quarter before the Lakers started a comeback. Shaquille O'Neal was a major factor in the comeback, scoring 18 points in the quarter. The Lakers played fantastically during the 4th quarter, and Tyronn Lue came off the bench and limited Iverson to merely 3 points and had 3 assists and 2 steals of his own. The game was eventually tied at 94, and when Dikembe Mutombo missed two free throws and Eric Snow's desperation three-pointer at the buzzer bounced off the rim, the game went to overtime. The Lakers scored the first 5 points in the first half of overtime. Raja Bell then hit a tough layup to answer, followed by Iverson scoring 7 straight points, including a three pointer to give them the lead. Iverson followed up with a step back 2-pointer over Lue which is famously known as he stepped over Lue after hitting the shot. The 76ers finished with a 6-point win to take the first game of the series. Game 2 #eee June 8 9:30 pm ET (6:30 pm PT) Staples Center, Los Angeles, California NBC Philadelphia 76ers 89 Los Angeles Lakers |score2=98 https://web.archive.org/web/20090401183934/http://www.nba.com/finals2001/recap_phi_lal_010608.html April 1, 2009 Recap 24–25 23–24 20–28 22–21 Allen Iverson 23 Kobe Bryant 31 Dikembe Mutombo 13 Shaquille O'Neal 20 Aaron McKie 6 Shaquille O'Neal 9 18,997 No. 29 Steve Javie No. 7 Bernie Fryer No. 34 Ronnie Nunn Series tied, 1–1 Kobe Bryant started off the game with 12 points in the first quarter, while Shaq scored 12 points in the second quarter. Despite their points, the 76ers kept a close lead as Larry Brown ran over 10 plays searching for the right quartet, and the fact that all the Lakers besides Bryant and O'Neal were shooting only at 27%. The Sixers were down by 13 in the fourth quarter, and were making a comeback due to Shaq sitting out with 5 fouls, which helped the 76ers to score 7 straight. Even though the 76ers were within 3 points of the Lakers, the 6 of 16 foul shooting in the fourth quarter put them behind permanently. O'Neal finished with 28 points, 20 rebounds, nine assists, and eight blocks, coming close to a quadruple double. Before the game, Lakers coach Phil Jackson had growled at O'Neal, "Don't be afraid to block a shot!" after O'Neal failed to block a shot in Game 1.Heisler Mark Phil Jackson's tenure produced the most success and fun we've ever seen May 11, 2011 Los Angeles Times https://www.latimes.com/sports/la-xpm-2011-may-11-la-sp-heisler-lakers-20110512-story.html https://web.archive.org/web/20110517052801/http://articles.latimes.com/2011/may/11/sports/la-sp-heisler-lakers-20110512 May 17, 2011 live Game 3 #eee June 10 8:00 pm ET First Union Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania NBC Los Angeles Lakers |score1=96 Philadelphia 76ers 91 http://www.nba.com/finals2001/recap_lal_phi_010610.html Recap NBA.com July 2, 2011 bot: unknown https://web.archive.org/web/20090401184443/http://www.nba.com/finals2001/recap_lal_phi_010610.html April 1, 2009 25–25 30–20 18–21 23–25 Kobe Bryant 32 Allen Iverson 35 Shaquille O'Neal 12 Iverson, Mutombo 12 each Bryant, Horry, O'Neal, Shaw 3 each Aaron McKie 8 20,900 No. 15 Bennett Salvatore No. 26 Bob Delaney No. 43 Dan Crawford Los Angeles leads the series, 2–1For the second consecutive game, the Lakers led for more than 30 minutes of game time (LA led for 37:54 to the Sixers' 3:40 in Game 3) but still found themselves clinging to a one-possession lead late. Philadelphia trimmed a nine-point Laker lead with just over seven minutes to play to one point three separate times in the final two minutes, having fouled out LA starters Shaquille O'Neal (30 points, 12 rebounds) and Derek Fisher in the process, but they were never able to tie or take the lead despite holding multiple possessions with a chance to do so down the stretch. Allen Iverson finished with a game-high 35 points; he made one of two free throws to trim the lead to one at 86–85 just outside of two minutes to play. After Rick Fox also split a pair of foul shots for LA, Iverson turned the ball over on the Sixers' ensuing possession, and Kobe Bryant answered with running floater to stretch the lead back to four. After Kevin Ollie converted a three-point play off a put-back basket to once again pull within one, Brian Shaw found Robert Horry for a crucial wide-open corner three – one of many clutch playoff shots from Horry in a career that became known for them – to give the Lakers a 92–88 lead with 47 seconds remaining. The 76ers would respond again; after maintaining possession on two three-point misses that deflected out of bounds, Iverson was fouled by Tyronn Lue on a third three-point attempt of the possession, making all three shots to once again bring the Sixers within one point with 27 seconds remaining. But after Horry made two free throws, Bryant and the Lakers forced Iverson into a contested driving layup that he missed, and Horry rebounded with under 10 seconds to play before adding two more free throws to secure the victory and a 2–1 series lead. Bryant led the Lakers with 32 points having played the entire game, while the Sixers shot just 2 for 12 from three-point range. Game 4 #eee June 13 9:30 pm ET First Union Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania NBC Los Angeles Lakers |score1=100 Philadelphia 76ers 86 http://www.nba.com/finals2001/recap_lal_phi_010613.html Recap NBA.com July 2, 2011 bot: unknown https://web.archive.org/web/20090401183927/http://www.nba.com/finals2001/recap_lal_phi_010613.html April 1, 2009 22–14 29–23 26–22 23–27 Shaquille O'Neal 34 Allen Iverson 35 Shaquille O'Neal 14 Dikembe Mutombo 9 Kobe Bryant 9 Iverson, Snow 4 each 20,896 No. 25 Hugh Evans No. 35 Jack Nies No. 32 Eddie F. Rush Los Angeles leads the series, 3–1 Game 5 #eee June 15 9:30 pm ET First Union Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania NBC Los Angeles Lakers |score1=108 Philadelphia 76ers 96 http://www.nba.com/finals2001/recap_lal_phi_010615.html Recap NBA.com July 2, 2011 bot: unknown https://web.archive.org/web/20090401083230/http://www.nba.com/finals2001/recap_lal_phi_010615.html April 1, 2009 24–27 28–21 31–20 25–28 Shaquille O'Neal 29 Allen Iverson 37 Shaquille O'Neal 13 Tyrone Hill 13 Bryant, Fox 6 each Eric Snow 12 20,890 No. 27 Dick Bavetta No. 7 Bernie Fryer No. 17 Joe Crawford Los Angeles wins the NBA Finals, 4–1 To date, this is the most recent NBA Finals game played in Philadelphia. While the NBA has regularly presented the NBA championship on the court since 1994, the Lakers opted to receive the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy inside their locker room in order to avoid the hostile Philadelphia crowd.https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-jun-16-ss-11285-story.html Celebration Goes From Center Court to the Locker Room Los Angeles Times June 16, 2001 June 7, 2026 Player statistics Los Angeles Lakers Los Angeles Lakers |- | align="left" | Kobe Bryant || 5 || 5 || 46.8 || .415 || .333 || .842 || 7.8 || 5.8 || 1.4 || 1.4 || 24.6 |- | align="left" | Derek Fisher || 5 || 5 || 31.6 || .436 || .526 || .833 || 1.2 || 2.0 || 1.6 || 0.2 || 9.8 |- | align="left" | Rick Fox || 5 || 5 || 32.8 || .441 || .467 || .923 || 4.6 || 3.8 || 1.2 || 0.4 || 9.8 |- | align="left" | Horace Grant || 5 || 5 || 24.6 || .294 || .000 || .750 || 5.6 || 0.6 || 0.4 || 1.4 || 5.2 |- | align="left" | Ron Harper || 3 || 0 || 8.3 || .625 || .333 || .667 || 1.7 || 1.0 || 0.3 || 0.3 || 4.3 |- | align="left" | Robert Horry || 5 || 0 || 25.4 || .560 || .615 || 1.000 || 5.0 || 1.2 || 0.8 || 1.4 || 8.4 |- | align="left" | Tyronn Lue || 5 || 0 || 14.6 || .583 || .667 || .000 || 0.8 || 1.4 || 1.4 || 0.2 || 3.6 |- | align="left" | Mark Madsen Mark Madsen (basketball) || 2 || 0 || 1.5 || .000 || .000 || .000 || 0.5 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.5 || 0.0 |-! style="background:#FDE910;" | align="left" | Shaquille O'Neal || 5 || 5 || 45.0 || .573 || .000 || .513 || 15.8 || 4.8 || 0.4 || 3.4 || 33.0 |- | align="left" | Brian Shaw Brian Shaw (basketball) || 5 || 0 || 18.6 || .300 || .300 || .600 || 3.2 || 2.8 || 0.8 || 0.0 || 3.6 Philadelphia 76ers Philadelphia 76ers |- | align="left" | Raja Bell || 5 || 0 || 15.8 || .308 || .000 || .500 || 1.8 || 0.8 || 2.0 || 0.0 || 2.6 |- | align="left" | Rodney Buford || 3 || 0 || 4.3 || .167 || .000 || .000 || 2.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.7 |- | align="left" | Matt Geiger || 5 || 0 || 10.8 || .667 || .000 || 1.000 || 1.0 || 0.4 || 0.2 || 0.0 || 5.2 |- | align="left" | Tyrone Hill || 5 || 5 || 28.2 || .394 || .000 || .778 || 6.6 || 0.4 || 0.0 || 1.2 || 6.6 |- | align="left" | Allen Iverson || 5 || 5 || 47.4 || .407 || .282 || .729 || 5.6 || 3.8 || 1.8 || 0.2 || 35.6 |- | align="left" | Jumaine Jones || 5 || 4 || 12.4 || .400 || .500 || .000 || 2.0 || 0.2 || 0.2 || 0.4 || 2.0 |- | align="left" | George Lynch basketball || 2 || 0 || 7.0 || .333 || .000 || .000 || 2.5 || 0.5 || 1.0 || 0.0 || 1.0 |- | align="left" | Todd MacCulloch || 5 || 0 || 6.2 || .417 || .000 || .750 || 1.4 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 2.6 |- | align="left" | Aaron McKie || 5 || 5 || 41.4 || .313 || .444 || .667 || 5.4 || 6.0 || 1.2 || 0.6 || 8.0 |- | align="left" | Dikembe Mutombo || 5 || 5 || 41.6 || .600 || .000 || .692 || 12.2 || 0.4 || 0.4 || 2.2 || 16.8 |- | align="left" | Kevin Ollie || 5 || 0 || 3.0 || .333 || .000 || 1.000 || 0.2 || 0.2 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 1.0 |- | align="left" | Eric Snow || 5 || 1 || 32.8 || .407 || .000 || .731 || 4.4 || 6.0 || 1.6 || 0.2 || 12.6 Broadcasting The 2001 NBA Finals was aired in the United States on NBC (including KNBC in Los Angeles and WCAU in Philadelphia) with Marv Albert and Doug Collins on play-by-play and color commentary respectively. Albert, who last worked the Finals for NBC Sports in 1997, had been rehired by NBC in 1999, two years after a sex scandal led to his dismissal. Albert also began working for TNT during this period, a role he continued until 2021. Collins departed NBC following the series to serve as head coach of the Washington Wizards; he later reunited with Albert to call conference finals games for TNT in the mid-to-late 2000s alongside Mike Fratello and later Steve Kerr. Ahmad Rashad served as the studio host in place of Hannah Storm, who took a maternity leave during the finals. Kevin Johnson and P. J. Carlesimo served as studio analysts, while Lewis Johnson and Jim Gray served as sideline reporters. Aftermath thumb|220x220px|Shaquille O'Neal shaking hands with President George W. Bush The Lakers won their third straight championship in a four-game sweep of the New Jersey Nets the following year. Also for the Lakers, their 15–1 postseason record was the best in NBA history. This record would later be broken in the 2017 NBA playoffs by the Golden State Warriors, who achieved a 16–1 record en route to their NBA Championship. By this point, the first round series was a best-of-seven, a change implemented for the 2002–03 season. As of the 2025-26 season, the series remains the 76ers’ last NBA Finals appearance. The Sixers would win only 43 games in their 2001–02 season, whose story was injuries. Nevertheless, they made the playoffs as the sixth seed, but were defeated by the Boston Celtics in five games. The Celtics themselves came within two games of returning to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1987, but were ousted by the upstart Nets, who made the NBA Finals for the first time, denying a possible Celtics-Lakers final. As for the Sixers, they would never challenge for the title again in the Allen Iverson era, with the team reaching the playoffs only twice for the next four years, winning only one series. Not only is 2001 the last NBA Finals appearance for the Sixers, but they have not been past the second round since this season as well. Larry Brown later coached the Detroit Pistons to their third championship in the 2004 NBA Finals, defeating the Lakers 4–1. References External links http://www.nba.com/finals2001 Official website NBA.com May 27, 2007 bot: unknown https://web.archive.org/web/20090331051718/http://www.nba.com/finals2001 March 31, 2009 http://www.nba.com/history/finals/20002001.html "Take Two for Tinseltown" NBA.com May 17, 2008 bot: unknown https://web.archive.org/web/20101203184405/http://www.nba.com/history/finals/20002001.html December 3, 2010 entry about Finals at NBA Encyclopedia 2001 NBA Finals at basketball-reference.com Category:NBA Finals Finals NBA Finals NBA Finals Category:2001 in sports in Los Angeles Category:2001 in sports in Pennsylvania Category:2001 in Philadelphia Category:June 2001 sports events in the United States Category:Basketball competitions in Philadelphia Category:Basketball competitions in Los Angeles