2001 NBA Finals
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| Dates | June 6–15 | ||||||||||
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| MVP |
Shaquille O'Neal (Los Angeles Lakers) |
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| Television | NBC (U.S.) | ||||||||||
| Announcers | Marv Albert and Doug Collins | ||||||||||
| Radio network | ESPN | ||||||||||
| Announcers | Brent Musburger and Jack Ramsay | ||||||||||
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| Hall of Famers |
Lakers: Shaquille O'Neal (2016) 76ers: Dikembe Mutombo (2015) Allen Iverson (2016) Coaches: Larry Brown (2002) Phil Jackson (2007) Tex Winter (2011) Officials: Dick Bavetta (2015) |
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| Eastern Finals | 76ers defeat Bucks, 4-3 | ||||||||||
| Western Finals | Lakers defeat Spurs, 4-0 | ||||||||||
| Game 1: | Dick Bavetta, Ron Garretson, Joe Crawford |
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| Game 2: | Steve Javie, Bernie Fryer, Ronnie Nunn |
| Game 3: | Bennett Salvatore, Bob Delaney, Dan Crawford |
| Game 4: | Hugh Evans, Jack Nies, Eddie F. Rush |
| Game 5: | Dick Bavetta, Bernie Fryer, Joe Crawford |
The 2001 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 2000–01 National Basketball Association season. The Los Angeles Lakers of the Western Conference took on the Philadelphia 76ers of the Eastern Conference for the title, with the Lakers holding home-court advantage in a best-of-seven format.
The Lakers won the series 4 games to 1. Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal was named the Most Valuable Player of the series.
Allen Iverson scored 48 points in his only NBA Finals victory, as the 76ers took Game 1 107–101 in overtime, handing the Lakers their first (and only) loss of the playoffs. However, the Lakers went on to win the next four games, despite being outshot and outrebounded in the series. Los Angeles punished Philadelphia with their three-point shooting, which was the key to this series. In Game 3 Robert Horry hit a three-point shot in the last minute, and in the next two games the Lakers used hot 3-point shooting to build big leads and hold off late 76ers comeback attempts in games 4 and 5, pulling away for double-digit wins to capture the title.
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.
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