2000 NBA Finals
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| Dates | June 7–19 | ||||||||||||
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| MVP |
Shaquille O'Neal (Los Angeles Lakers) |
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| Television | NBC (U.S.) | ||||||||||||
| Announcers | Bob Costas and Doug Collins | ||||||||||||
| Radio network | ESPN | ||||||||||||
| Announcers | Brent Musburger and Jack Ramsay | ||||||||||||
| Referees | |||||||||||||
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| Hall of Famers |
Lakers: Shaquille O'Neal (2016) Pacers: Chris Mullin (2011) Reggie Miller (2012) Coaches: Larry Bird (1998, player) Phil Jackson (2007) Tex Winter (2011) Officials: Dick Bavetta (2015) |
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| Eastern Finals | Pacers defeat Knicks, 4–2 | ||||||||||||
| Western Finals | Lakers defeat Trail Blazers, 4–3 | ||||||||||||
| Game 1: | Dan Crawford, Jack Nies, Terry Durham |
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| Game 2: | Joe Crawford, Bennett Salvatore, Eddie F. Rush |
| Game 3: | Ron Garretson, Bernie Fryer, Hugh Evans |
| Game 4: | Dick Bavetta, Steve Javie, Ronnie Nunn |
| Game 5: | Bennett Salvatore, Jack Nies, Dan Crawford |
| Game 6: | Hugh Evans, Ron Garretson, Joe Crawford |
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. The series was played under a best-of-seven format, with the Lakers holding home court advantage.
The Lakers won the series 4 games to 2. Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the series, his first of three consecutive honors. Until 2008, this was the most recent NBA Finals where both number one seeds from both conferences faced off in the final.
Although the Lakers were one of the more talented teams in the NBA the previous year, they failed to win a single game against the San Antonio Spurs in the 1999 NBA playoffs. Twenty-four days after being swept by the eventual league champion, the Lakers signed Phil Jackson as head coach. Jackson, famous for coaching Michael Jordan and the six-time champion Chicago Bulls, would build his triangle offense around Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. General Manager Jerry West surrounded O'Neal and Bryant with effective role players such as Glen Rice, Ron Harper (who had experience with Jackson's triangle offense as part of the '96–'98 Bulls), and A. C. Green (member of the last two Lakers championship teams).
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