Back on Top: Derek Fisher, NBA Champion

Seven years ago, when he was just 27 years old, celebrating his third straight NBA Championship, Derek Fisher had no idea what the world held in store for him before he could hold the Larry O’Brien trophy again.

But after all the trials and tribulations, after stops in Golden State and Utah and a child’s illness that could have broken him, Derek endured. And Sunday night, he finally got to savor the fruits of his labor.

D-Fish scored 13 points (4-7 shooting), adding four rebounds and two assists, and the Los Angeles defeated the Orlando Magic, 99-86, to close out the championship series in five games and bring the Lakers a 15th franchise title. 

A quote Derek gave to Bill Plascke of the LA Times describes not only the Lakers win in Game 5, not only their win in the series, but Fish’s journey personally to another title.

“We were put in a position where we had to dig deep, find out who you are,” Fisher said.

A champion again (Getty Images).

LONG AND WINDING ROAD
For D-Fish, the road to a fourth NBA Championship was filled with unexpected twists and turns on and off the court, and along the way, he certainly found out a lot about himself.

Asked after the game to describe what makes this title special, he was momentarily left at a loss for words.

“It’s hard to describe right now Doris,” Derek said. “It’s life. Everything, my family, this team, this organization, this city, this league, everything about this game is what makes tonight special.”

Derek and the Lakers last celebrated an NBA title in 2002, when a victory over the New Jersey Nets clinched a three-peat as champions.  

In the following two seasons, the Lakers were upended short of another championship. In 2003, the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs took LA out in six games. A year later, the Lakers reached the Finals, but were ousted by the Detroit Pistons.

Following the 2003-2004 season, Derek departed Los Angeles for Northern California, where he made a new home with the Golden State Warriors. Despite Fish putting up the best numbers of his career while in Golden State, the Warriors managed only 34 wins in each of his two seasons there, and after his second season was completed, D-Fish was jettisoned to Utah in a four-player deal.

In Utah, Fish instantly became an impact player on a playoff contender, and the Jazz reached the postseason by winning the Northwest Division. But after Utah won the first round series over the Houston Rockets, Derek was forced to miss game one of the conference semifinals when his daughter fell ill. D-Fish returned midway through Game 2 and became a hero for his contributions. The Jazz would go on to win the series, and Fish would later share the story of his daughter Tatum, who had developed a rare form of eye cancer.

After the Jazz went down in the conference finals to the San Antonio Spurs, Derek approached Utah owner Larry Miller about leaving the team and terminating his contract so that he could move on to a place where Tatum could receive the best care.

Derek was granted his release, and wound up back in Los Angeles for a second tour of duty with the Lakers. Tatum and the rest of the family moved back to LA for her treatment.

Back in LA, Fish joined another team on the cusp and helped guide a young Lakers team back to the NBA Finals for the first time since his departure. On the way, Derek and the Lakers went through Utah, where he was booed mercilessly and treated without respect. That series, he would later admit, was one of the hardest things he’d ever been through.

The Lakers made it through Utah and into the Finals, but were met with an overpowering challenge and fell to the Boston Celtics in six games.

The loss motivated Derek and his Lakers teammates to work harder toward reaching the top of the mountain and the Lakers motored through this season with the best record in the Western Conference.

But questions arose about Derek’s age and ability. Fans and media members said he was too slow and that he had lost his shooter’s touch. They called for his backup Jordan Farmar to receive more time. Then, when Farmar went down and the Lakers acquired Shannon Brown from Charlotte, it was Brown who they wanted to see.

“I’ve heard different versions of it,” Fisher said. “Now, it’s age. Before it was other things in terms of not being able to shoot or not tall enough or whatever the case was. And so, I’ve always used those things as motivation to work even harder and try to be better than I was before.”

Derek worked through the criticism and despite his struggles, Lakers coach Phil Jackson stuck with him and Fish made the most of it in the Finals.

D-Fish averaged 11 points per game in these NBA Finals, none bigger than his game-tying and game-winning shots in game four that served as a knockout blow to the Magic of Orlando, as quoted by the OC Register:

“Life doesn’t always present you an opportunity,” Fisher said, “to do what you didn’t do before.”

But the long ride to the top only made the arrival that much sweeter.

“When you go through the ups and the downs and the good and the bad, life throws things at you and sometimes you get beat,” Derek said. “We talked about it, to go to the top in our careers, back to the bottom and to be, now, back on top, it’s something you can’t describe in terms of how it feels. This is just the best. It’s the best.”

COMING IN AND STEPPING UP
After playing for nearly the entire first quarter, D-Fish took a breather to start the second with the Lakers trailing by two. By the time he checked back in at the 6:28 mark, the Orlando lead was up to four.

But that wouldn’t last. On LA’s first offensive possession since his return from the bench, Fish showed a blow was just what he needed by sinking a wide-open triple off a Kobe Bryant dish to cut the Orlando lead to one.

The three-point bucket set off a 16-0 run by LA to take a commanding lead that they would never relinquish. It was a moment in the game that Derek had foreshadowed, according to ESPN’s Doris Burke, who quoted Fish from before the game:

I’m convinced that a moment will arise in game five where our opponent will present an opportunity for us to take their will and are we going to be prepared to meet that moment?

The resounding 16-0 run met the moment and then some as LA turned a four-point deficit into a 12-point lead and eventually an NBA Championship.

After the game though, Derek wasn’t taking any credit he couldn’t share with his teammates, as quoted by the LA Daily News:

“As great as you feel individually, and you want to shout to the world about how you feel and what you think and what you did, it’s really about the accomplishments of this entire team, especially on a night like tonight,” Fisher said. “The focus belongs on the whole group."

“With these guys, everybody being in their early- to mid-20 s, guys that are still trying to make their spot in this league, earn their contract situation, there was a willingness to learn and be around me, to be around Kobe (Bryant),” Fisher said.

“It’s just a special group. I think that’s why you saw the emotion that you saw tonight. We didn’t act like we expected this to happen. I mean, we really celebrated like we didn’t know this was coming."

“It’s great. It’s great.”

START YOUR MORNING RIGHT
Moments after the game, Wheaties boxes appeared featuring the Lakers team photo on the front, something D-Fish felt was extremely appropriate, as quoted by the LA Daily News:

“It’s great to see that box not just be Kobe or not just be Phil on the front of that box. That’s what this has been all about all year.”

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
In Sunday’s LA Times, the mailbox exploded with letters to the sports editor regarding D-Fish. An example:

“Move over, Big Shot Rob, and say hello to D-Swish.

Jason Mathis, Camarillo”

NEXT YEAR CAN WAIT
There wasn’t much time to celebrate before reporters began asking questions about next season and they are abound.

Phil Jackson has a year left on his contract in LA, but his health is a question mark. Kobe Bryant has the option to opt out of his LA contract, though he says he will not. And Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza are free agents.

Kobe wouldn’t speculate on anything beyond vacation, but Fish was willing to commit to one thing, as quoted in the LA Times:

“You know, it’s easy to shy away from expectations, but at the point in my career, where I am, why run away from it?

“Definitely when we start training camp next season and we have our ring ceremony at Staples Center…our first home game, all thoughts will be on winning another championship.”

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