After a long season and a grueling playoff run, Derek Fisher found himself an NBA champion for the fourth time in his professional career.
Here’s a look back at the season that was.
STAT OF THE UNION
After averaging 9.9 points per game during the regular season and just 7.2 ppg through the first three rounds of the playoffs, D-Fish stepped it up on the biggest stage, dropping 11 points per game on the Orlando Magic in the Lakers’ NBA Finals victory.
It only makes sense that with Derek scoring in double figures three times in the Finals, the Lakers dominated the series with a 4-1 win. LA was 34-7 during the regular season and 8-0 in the playoffs when Fish scored 10 points or more.
GAME OF THE YEAR
Is there any doubt?
There was no bigger game in Derek’s career, no less this season, than Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
The Lakers led the best-of seven series 2-0 heading back to Orlando, but dropped Game 3 and were in danger of letting Orlando tie the series in Game Four until No. 2 stepped up.
Fish drained a game-tying three-pointer with 4.6 seconds to go, sending the game to overtime. In the overtime period, D-Fish delivered a double dose of trey by knocking down another triple with 31.1 seconds to go to give LA a 94-91 lead that they would hold to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. Many people, D-Fish included believe the second three was the knockout blow to Orlando’s chances of winning the title and delivered championship number 15 to the Lakers.
“You know, I just sensed that was the dagger,” he said, as quoted in the LA Daily News. “That was the one that would put us in a position to close out the game.”
IN HIS WORDS
“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.” – Derek, speaking to ABC’s Doris Burke seconds after the Lakers won the NBA Championship, Derek’s 4th title – 06.14.09
AS SEEN BY
“We’ve always said the character has got to be in players if they’re going to be great players. You can’t just draft it. It’s not just about talent, it’s about character, and he’s a person of high character, brings that to play, not only in just his gamesmanship but also his intestinal fortitude.” – Lakers coach Phil Jackson
“He just has supreme confidence, and I think those shots at the end of the game are actually easier for him than the other ones.” – Kobe Bryant
“He’s an incredible person, as well as a basketball player,” forward Lamar Odom said. “He puts being a good man first, and that’s important, especially for the chemistry in the locker room.” – Lamar Odom
“Fisher’s the rock of this team. Basketball has a lot of emotions and ups and downs, and there is a lot that happens on and off the court that the average fan doesn’t see, but ever since they brought Fish back, he instantly made us a better team. Just his presence made us better. Just having him on the team and on the court is a bonus.” – Luke Walton
EXIT INTERVIEWS
Courtesy of the Kamenetzky Bros. of the Los Angeles Times, we have a number of clips of Derek from his exit interview:
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
2 The number of shots it took for Fish to truly become a Lakers legend…fitting because it’s also the number he wears on his back
4 Number of NBA Championships Derek can lay claim to for his career
4.6 The number of seconds remaining in game four of the 2009 NBA Finals when D-Swish sank the three-point dagger that sent the game to overtime.
9.9 Derek’s points per game average in the 2009 regular season
11.0 Derek’s points per game in the NBA Finals.
31.3 The moment that Derek’s overtime three in Game 4 simultaneously broke Orlando’s back and cemented his place in Lakers lore
41 Derek’s NBA Finals three-pointers tally, one shy of Michael Jordan for second all time behind “Big Shot” Robert Horry
82 The number of regular season games Derek started this season
Derek you are one of my favorite Lakers. You won my heart when you made 04 seconds years ago. You were truly missed when you left the Lakers and when you came back I celebrated. I love you and appreciate you and thank God for you. We would not be champs without you and your 4.4 second shot and 31 second shot in Ot. I wish I could find a t shirt with those two shots on it one in front and one in back. I still have the old one of you at 04. You are my hero. You know I was at the Coliseum and loved your speech and felt your gratitude to the fans. It made it worth the 3 1/2 hrs it took me to get home by public transportation to hear what you said. I just wish I had been closer and could have had your autograph. I follow you on twitter. My twitter name is consicously. I know I will cry the day you retire and am glad you will be back next year. I know there is another championship in us this team if it stays intact with you on it is championship caliber and I could not be mroe delighted. I am a die hard true Lakers fan. I miss watching the game and cant wait till next season starts. I am watching Sparks games and once saw you there but couldnt gt close enough to introduce myself or get your autograph on a T shirt. I know you are a Sparks fan too and that is great. Be well and have a great summer.
Love,
Tessa Aura
I smell pro-dfish propaganda!
J/K, anyhoo those shots and the game 4 win was definitely the climax of this playoff run. Game 5 was just the credits rolling after the movie was over.