When Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant joined the Los Angeles Lakers for the 1996-97 season, expectations were high that they would form the backbone of the next great Laker championship team. Unfortunately, spectacular talent doesn't always yield spectacular results, and after the team was swept out of the 1998 and 1999 playoffs, Lakers management brought in the ultimate coach: Phil Jackson, who won six championships with the Chicago Bulls. Once again the Lakers were expected to win it all.
This official NBA championship video follows the Lakers' exciting 1999-2000 season as they overcame an early injury to Bryant to post the most wins (67) in the NBA. Under Jackson's guidance, O'Neal improved his focus, conditioning, and maturity to become the dominant player in the game and win the MVP award. In the playoffs, the Lakers struggled a bit against the Sacramento Kings, the Phoenix Suns, and the deep and talented Portland Trail Blazers, but they survived and moved on to the NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers. The second half of the video covers this "Hoosiers against Hollywood" series, with game film as well as glimpses of postgame press conferences and the Lakers' locker room and training room. Also included are footage of the Lakers' victory celebrations in the locker room and back in L.A., and a music video of Bon Jovi's "It's My Life." Laker fans will find this a memorable souvenir of what may be merely the first step of the next basketball dynasty. --David Horiuchi
Additional features
The DVD includes 4- to 5-minute segments on "The Big Three" (Phil Jackson's influence on Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant), "Kobe: The Showman," "Shaq: The Big Diesel," and "Harper: The Crafty Veteran" (about guard Ron Harper). Also included are 10 highlight moments from the 2000 season (three of which involve Toronto's Vince Carter), a recap of the Lakers' victory celebration and parade (5 minutes), players' thoughts on winning the championship (2:30), a montage of Finals highlights (3 minutes), and a text-only game-by-game summary of the Lakers' season. A number of highlights from the NBA Finals (but not the earlier playoff rounds) can be viewed from two different camera angles, and between games 4 and 5 is a bonus segment showing Shaquille O'Neal at the zoo on one of his days off (2:40). Game footage is shown in modest widescreen format (1.66:1 aspect ratio).
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