their third straight title with a 113-107 victory over the New Jersey Nets to complete a Finals sweep (NBA.com).

L.A Lakers have faced over many obstacles during the regular season throughout the playoffs. Other NBA players respect the Lakers and Scottie Pippen from the Portland Trail Blazers says, "It's impossible not to think about the Lakers." The team was scheduled to meet the Los Angeles in the first round of the playoffs. "They're the defending champs with Shaq and Kobe,” said Pippen. With this being said from a player who knows what its like to be a champion, with six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls it was a tough game for the Blazers to face up to its reality. Lakers’ domination of the league sometimes allows other teams to fear the challenge. Shaquille O’Neal weighing at about 340 pounds and with skyscraping height of seven feet and one inch, he terrorized the Nets throughout the entire series and collected 34 points and 10 rebounds in the clincher (NBA.com). Shaq averaged 28.5 points per game with total blocks and assists of 48 and 54 respectively during the 2002 Finals (Sportsline.com). “I just knew I had to hit them,” O'Neal said. “In any part of this series, if I were to start missing them, they probably would go into the Hack-a-Shaq as a strategy. I didn't feel like going through that.” Shaq’s enormous size and his ability to dunk, post-up, and shoot on the perimeter, it was almost impossible to guard him. However, at times Shaq would get frustrated because of the fouls and missed shots. When the team goes into timeout, coach Phil uses his motivational skills to work on underachieving Shaq. During an interview Shaq humbles himself and compliments Phil Jackson. He says:

On the other side of the court, there stood Kobe Bryant. Kobe is a shooting guard for the Lakers (Sportsline.com) and has led the team with ability to execute shots like Michael Jordan did in his era. Kobe Bryant skipped college and went on to the pro after high school (Sportsline.com). At a young age, he began to learn about the higher game plans of the L.A Lakers. His career started to fame when he won the Slam-Dunk contest during his rookie yea

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