The Struggles of Would-Be Champs

Winning an NBA title is about perserverance. Over the weekend, Derek and the Los Angeles Lakers showed that, taking one of two games in Denver to regain home court advantage.

Victory came in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals, a 103-97 win on Saturday night that allowed Los Angeles to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

And while Kobe’s 41 points were a big spark, even No. 24 would admit afterward that a speech by D-Fish, during a timeout in the fourth quarter, spurred the team to victory, as quoted in the Los Angeles Times:

“Derek pulled us all in the huddle and just reminded everybody, this is what it’s about,” said Kobe Bryant. “This is where you’re tested. To be a champion, you’ve got to respond.”

“They responded,” D-Fish said, as quoted by the OC Register.

Fish scores in Game 4 (Getty Images).

The speech was impromptu, not scripted, just as Derek always says the NBA playoffs are. After the game, Fish did not want to divulge its contents, but as his teammates raved about the inspiration, he was prompted to share his message with the masses, as quoted in the LA Times:

“I told them, this was a moment in time when you can define yourself,” Fisher said. “I told them, this was a moment when you can step into that destiny.”

Fisher said he summed up the speech in a sentence.

“I told them, this is your moment,” he said.

And the Lakers answered the call by seizing the series with a 32-point fourth quarter, stepping into their destiny and dropping that magic number to six.

But just as his teammates talked the speech up, Derek downplayed it, making it clear, this wasn’t an audition for a second career as motivational speaker, as quoted in the LA Times:

“If I knew what it was,” said Fisher, laughing, “I’d put it on QVC for like $29.99.”

But around LA, the speech has gained traction. Mark Heisler of the Times compared it to something from the annals of the film 300:

“You’ve heard of King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans?

Meet Fish and his 11 Lakers.

Fisher’s plea, before they came from eight points down against the Denver Nuggets to win Game 3, is now known as his “This is what it’s about” speech, and ranks with, “If your arrows blot out the sun, we will fight in the shade!”

Not that Fisher expected it, after saying what he said spontaneously, because it’s what he does.

Imagine his surprise when teammates called it a rallying cry, and people began asking what his motivation was, if he writes his own stuff, and what makes him so inspirational, even if he hasn’t hit the broad side of a barn in a while.”

COMPELLED TO LEAD
After repeating his speech and receiving kudos for its inspiration, No. 2 was asked what led him to the speech, as documented by Heisler:

“Fisher answered, “My career.”

Actually, it’s more like his life.

Fisher goes back so far, few remember him as a 23-year-old, second-year backup to Nick Van Exel in 1998, when a crisis arose (imagine that) about their play and Coach Del Harris’ job.

With General Manager Jerry West out scouting and no one asserting any leadership—Van Exel, of course, was all for firing Harris—Fisher wrote a letter to his teammates, all of whom were older except Kobe Bryant, urging them to close ranks.

What Fisher did Saturday wasn’t anything he hasn’t done his whole career, because it’s who he is.

If it took this long for it to mean as much as it suddenly does, then it was overdue.

“It just jumped out, man,” Fisher said. “I don’t know, it just kind of came to me. I felt compelled to say it, as opposed to thinking it and not saying it.

“We still probably would have won the game. Things would have still happened the way they did, but I just felt they needed to hear it and I wanted to say it.”

READ ALL ABOUT IT
Fish had four points, pocketed three steals, grabbed three rebounds and dished two assists, but it was his words that resonated, not only with his teammates, but also with the writers for the LA papers:

Bill Plaschke, the LA Times:
“Mostly they were talking about Fisher’s speech, the kind that might one day be put on T-shirts and repeated on the corner of 11th and Figueroa, words fit for a parade, his Lakers stepping into their destiny.”

Jeff Miller, The OC Register:
Only later would he make his most important connection of the night, during a dead-ball situation, with no cameras on him.

At this point, Fisher has to seize whatever opportunities are still there for him.

“People can talk all they want,” he said. “That’s part of this business. But it’s not going to impact my level of happiness one bit if we win a championship.”

If the Lakers win a title, no one will remember all the shots Fisher missed. But they might recall one of his shots from Game 3, the shot heard ‘round the huddle.”

GAME FOUR GOES TO DENVER
With an impressive comeback in game three, the Lakers regained the edge but they also maxed out energy-wise.

Though LA came out with the momentum of a game three victory, they seemed a step slower in game four and were met by a motivated Nuggets squad.

The Lakers fell behind early, regrouped to pull within seven at half, but never led, falling by a score of 120-101, which evened the series at two games each.

Fish scored five points in his 23 minutes but as Denver built a large lead, he never returned to the floor after checking out midway through the third.

All five of his points came in the first half. In the first quarter, he carved a lane for a runner that cut Denver’s early lead 12-7, at the time. The Lakers closed to within three by the end of the first.

But the Nuggets came out of the break strong and scored the first eight points to push their lead to double digits. A three by Derek with five minutes to go in the half downed the lead to 10, and LA went into the locker room trailing by only seven.

The game remained close throughout the third until the Nuggets pulled away in the fourth and put together a 43-point quarter to cruise to a series-tying victory.

THESE CHANCES DON’T COME AROUND TOO OFTEN
In Saturday’s LA Daily News, in advance of Derek’s game three speech, Ramona Shelburne penned a piece on Derek’s career, including an interview with D-Fish about where he’s been and where this team is going:

“Opportunities like the one the Lakers have don’t come around as often as he once thought.

“It’s here and it’s gone,” Fisher said in a wide-ranging interview after practice this week.

“My first three years here before Phil (Jackson) and the staff got here seem an eternity away. I’ve been through the playoff disappointments. And obviously we had great success for five years there with four trips to the finals. Then I was gone for three years.

But now coming back and looking at a 13-year career where I had a chance to win three championships, in 13 years, that’s a lot of years to say you only got three. Which is more than a lot of guys, but in my eyes it represents how difficult it is to do.

There are a lot of other things where if you had a crack at it 13 times, you might be able to get it four or five times. And if you’re having a great day you might get eight or nine out of 13.

So it’s really difficult to do. At my age and experience level, it really resonates with me stronger than some of the other guys.”

TAKEN DOWN AND BUILT BACK UP
The last two years and LA’s run at another title have brought Fish back to 2004, when the Lakers played the Pistons in the Finals, looking for a last hurrah, before being gutted and rebuilt:

“The team was deconstructed, the coach was gone, that’s just this business. That’s pro sports,” Fish told Shelburne.

“I think we all understood there would be some adjustments and some changes because we had so many guys that were potential free agents, but the idea of the whole cover being ripped apart, where it’d be a whole new organization and team, we had no idea.”

What resonates strongly with Fisher, in hindsight, is the common purpose that team had, as veterans including Karl Malone and Gary Payton played through injuries and struggles in relentless pursuit of a championship they never had tasted.

“I think I relate to them better now,” Fisher said. “I had an appreciation for where they were then. I didn’t see myself as this young guy who had 15 years ahead of me. That was 2004, I was 29 myself. So I had an appreciation for what they were after.

“That’s what made that team special, even with all the personalities and injuries and things we had to go through, because of that common purpose, because Gary and Karl were here for that one reason.

“Our team had won three and then we lost the year before, so all we wanted was to win that championship in ‘04. But the injuries just tore us apart. Karl’s (knee) injury, but really Horace Grant’s hip injury. We didn’t have a power forward at all, and if you try to match up against a team like Detroit with no power forward, it’s really tough.

“I had an appreciation for them then, but I think I relate to them more now. I don’t see this as my last stand, but obviously I’m much closer to the end of my career than the beginning, so I would never want an opportunity like last year’s or this year’s to just kind of slip by as if, “Oh well, five years from now I’ll get that back.”

NEXT UP
The series shifts back to Los Angeles for a pivotal game five on Wednesday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. PST and all the action can be seen live on ESPN.

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