2002 NBA Finals

The 2002 NBA Finals was the National Basketball Association (NBA) championship series for the 2001–02 season. The best-of-seven playoff was contested between the Los Angeles Lakers, champions of the Western Conference and two-time defending NBA champions, and the New Jersey Nets, champions of the Eastern Conference. The Lakers swept the Nets, four games to none, to win the franchise's 14th NBA championship. The 56th edition of the championship series was played between June 5 and June 12 and was broadcast on NBC.

Shaquille O'Neal, who averaged 36 points and 12 rebounds in the Finals, was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player. Lakers coach Phil Jackson won his ninth ring, tying him with Red Auerbach for most all-time. During the series, he surpassed Pat Riley for most career playoffs wins with 156.

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

Series summary

The Finals were played using a 2-3-2 site format, where the first two and last two games are held at the team with home court advantage. The NBA, after experimenting in the early years, restored this original format for the NBA Finals in 1985.

1979 NBA Finals

The 1979 NBA World Championship Series at the conclusion of the 1978–79 season were won by the Seattle SuperSonics defeating the Washington Bullets 4 games to 1. The series was a rematch of the 1978 NBA Finals which the Washington Bullets had won 4–3. Due to a better regular season record, the Bullets had home-court advantage.

Dennis Johnson of the SuperSonics was the Finals Most Valuable Player while Gus Williams of the SuperSonics was the top scorer, averaging 28.6 points per game.

Besides the Seattle Metropolitans victory in the Stanley Cup in 1917, this remained Seattle's only men's professional sports championship until the Seattle Seahawks won Super Bowl XLVIII.

Coincidentally, the series (along with the 1978 NBA Finals) was informally known as the George Washington series, because both teams were playing in places named after the first President of the United States (the SuperSonics were playing in Seattle, the largest city in the State of Washington, and the Bullets were representing Washington, D.C. albeit playing in nearby Landover, Maryland).

1983 NBA Finals

The 1983 NBA Finals, also known as Showdown '83, was the championship round of the 1982–83 NBA season. It was the last NBA Championship Series completed before June 1.

Background

This was the third Finals meeting in four years between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers won the first two meetings in 1980 and 1982 with Magic Johnson earning Finals MVP awards each time. But Johnson wasn't the only problem the 76ers faced. While Julius Erving played superbly in both series, their frontcourt of Darryl Dawkins, Caldwell Jones and Bobby Jones couldn't neutralize Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. So in the off-season, the 76ers acquired Moses Malone from the Houston Rockets in an effort to solve Kareem, in addition to providing some offense and rebounding to the team. They parted ways with Caldwell Jones, Dawkins, and Lionel Hollins before the season, while giving greater responsibility to high-scoring guard Andrew Toney and backup playmaker Clint Richardson, and adding forwards Clemon Johnson and rookie Marc Iavaroni.

1988 NBA Finals

The 1988 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1987–88 NBA season. One of Los Angeles Lakers head coach Pat Riley's most famous moments came when he promised the crowd a repeat championship during the Lakers' 1986-87 championship parade in downtown Los Angeles. With every team in the league now gunning for them, the Los Angeles Lakers still found a way to win, taking their seventh consecutive Pacific Division title. While the 1988 Lakers did not produce as many wins in the regular season as the 1987 Lakers, they were just as successful in the playoffs, becoming the first team in 19 years to repeat as champions. The Lakers met the physical Detroit Pistons in the 1988 NBA Finals.

One of Piston guard Isiah Thomas' career-defining performances came in Game 6. Despite badly twisting his ankle midway through the period, Thomas scored a still-NBA Finals record 25 third quarter points, as Detroit fell valiantly, 103-102, to the Lakers at the Forum.

Thomas still managed to score 10 first-half points in Game 7, as Detroit built a 5-point lead. In the 3rd quarter, the Lakers, inspired by Finals MVP James Worthy and Byron Scott (14 3rd quarter points), exploded as they built a 10-point lead entering the final period. The lead swelled to 15 before Detroit mounted a furious 4th-quarter rally, trimming the lead to 2-points on several occasions. Still, several Detroit miscues enabled the Lakers to win with a 108-105 victory.