When the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Shaquille O’Neal from the Orlando Magic in 1996 with a staggering seven-year, $120 million deal, many contemporary stars and talking heads questioned the logistics of the move. However, the pairing of a young Kobe Bryant and a prime Shaq soon shut down all the noise around the league. The unprecedented Shaq deal started paying its dividends in the 2000 NBA Finals as the Lakers secured their first Championship in 12 years against the Indiana Pacers.
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Former Pacers forward Jalen Rose recently recalled his first-hand experience of the Finals series during a podcast appearance.
Rose is still widely remembered by NBA fans for conceding 81 points against Kobe Bryant in 2006. However, the Mamba had been thwarting the 50-year-old’s path to glory since long before that.
During a recent appearance on Showtime’s All the Smoke podcast, Rose unpacked his memories of the 2000 NBA Finals, playing against the dynamic duo of Shaq and Kobe. The former Indiana Pacers star admitted that the series was almost a solo show for prime Shaquille O’Neal, who averaged 38 points and 16.7 rebounds in the Finals to seal the Finals MVP trophy.
According to Rose, “Shaq a monster. It was different then because in Orlando, it was the younger, more athletic Shaq. And then later in his career, people got to see the powerful, right in front of the rim Shaq.”
“He was like Wilt [Chamberlain] against us. He was like 40 and 20, and he’s making his free throws. But another great thing man is Kobe’s coming out party,” Rose added.
The ESPN analyst also mentioned Kobe Bryant’s slow rise to superstardom, which would culminate in the 81 points he scored against Rose’s Toronto Raptors.
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Shaq put up all-time numbers in all the Finals campaigns of the Lakers’ three-peat, bagging the Finals MVP on all three occasions. During Game 2 of the 2000 Finals, Shaq attempted a record 39 free throws in a single game, which indicates his absolute dominance in the contest.
The Lakers defeated Rose’s Indiana Pacers 4-2 to win the Finals that year. The LA side would win two more Championships in a row under the leadership of Shaq and Kobe before the tandem would fall apart into pieces.
