Derek Fisher’s swift transition from a player in the National Basketball Association to the head coach of the New York Knicks left little time to look back on his fantastic career on the court. So before his first season on the sideline begins, DerekFisher6.com is taking a trip back through time to celebrate D-Fish’s career as a point guard on teams across the league.

Part I focused on Fish’s time at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock and how he entered the league in the loaded 1996 draft class. In Part II, we’ll look back at the first of his two stints with the Los Angeles Lakers.

In Derek’s first three seasons in L.A., the Lakers knocked on the door, making at least the Western Conference semifinals all three years. Over that span, Fish played in all but two regular-season contests for the Lakers.

It was in the 1999-2000 season that the immensely talented Hollywood squad finally broke through. After winning 67 games and earning the No. 1 seed in the West, the Lakers powered through the postseason. They topped Sacramento and Phoenix each in five games before being taken to Game 7 by the Portland Trail Blazers in the West finals.

Once in the Finals, the Lakers were matched up with a physical Indiana Pacers squad, led by guard Reggie Miller and Jalen Rose. This series was most memorable for the injury to L.A.’s own star guard Kobe Bryant, who stepped on the foot of Rose after shooting a jumper in Game 2.

Bryant missed a Game 3 loss, but came back to score a combined 54 points in victories in Game 4 and Game 6 to help Los Angeles secure the world championship and restore its dynasty.

The following season, Fish missed 62 games due to a foot injury, and L.A. took a turn for the worse in his absence. The win total for the defending champs dropped by 11 and they failed to earn the No. 1 seed—but once Derek returned in time for the playoffs, he brought with him a renewed sense of energy and unity.

After sweeping through the first three rounds of the postseason, Los Angeles dropped its first game of the finals to an Allen Iverson-led Philadelphia 76ers squad, but the Lakers turned around to take the next three games and head back to Philadelphia with the Sixers on the brink.

“This basketball team has been through a lot of things this season,” Fish said before Game 5. “And we’ve worked very hard to maintain our togetherness and our belief in one another. I think right now, our belief in one another and our togetherness is higher than it has ever been. And our focus is, I think, one that can’t be broken.”

Fish ended up correct. He averaged a career-high 13.4 points through that postseason, along with three rebounds and 3.8 assists per contest. No. 2 was at his best in the decisive Game 5, as he drained six threes for a total of 18 points to lead an onslaught that sealed the L.A. victory.

In 2002, the Lakers came back and stormed through the postseason in similar fashion. With the core group of Fish, Bryant, coach Phil Jackson and three-time Finals MVP Shaquille O’Neal all returning, the squad was well aware of what it would take to make another championship run.

Los Angeles was challenged mightily in the West finals by the No. 1 seed Sacramento Kings in a classic seven-game showdown. Fish helped to deliver one of the most electric moments in that series, when he found Kobe on the lob for a monstrous jam.

After that emotional triumph, the Lakers sucked the drama out of the finals, sweeping through the New Jersey Nets in four games to close out the three-peat. D-Fish was in double figures scoring in all four victories to help guide L.A. to its third consecutive title.

The following year, it seemed inevitable that the Lakers dynasty would continue. However, early in the season, those high hopes were dashed, as the squad started an abysmal 11-19 when Shaq was shelved while recovering from toe surgery.

LA eventually rebounded and grabbed the No. 5 seed. But after topping the Minnesota Timberwolves in Round 1 of the playoffs, their dynasty saw its end. Matched up with the San Antonio Spurs, the Lakers fell in six games.

Los Angeles gave it one more go at a fourth title the following season, adding Hall-of-Fame talents Gary Payton and Karl Malone in the offseason. The move helped them to climb back up the standings and take the No. 2 seed in the West, and charge past the Houston Rockets in the quarterfinals. However, it wasn’t Payton or Malone—or even Shaq or Kobe—who made the most memorable impact in a semifinals rematch against the Spurs. It was Derek Fisher.

In one of the most incredible moments in Lakers and NBA history, and amid a classic six-game series, L.A. found itself in trouble on the road in Game 5. After Tim Duncan hit what appeared to be the game-winning shot on the other end, Payton was on the inbound with Hall-of-Famers littering the floor and just 0.4 seconds left on the clock.

His inbound pass found the hands of D-Fish, who launched a turnaround mid-range buzzer-beater to send the Lakers home with a win and a 3-2 series lead.

“Most of the time, the play is not for me, even though I can make shots. Most of the time we’re going to Kobe or Shaq automatically,” Fish said on the court after the play. “This is special, we almost gave the game away. I think tonight’s game is indicative of how our whole season has gone. We’ve looked great at times, we’ve looked poor at times. But we’ve hung in. Everybody’s had adversity, individually and collectively. But this is just a great win for our team and our organization.”

That great win fueled the Lakers in Game 6 and through the Western Conference finals against the Minnesota Timberwolves, setting up a date in the NBA Finals with the Detroit Pistons.

But in the end, L.A. ran out of championship magic, and the defensive-minded Pistons pulled off a stunning five-game upset.

After the heartbreaking finals loss, the Lakers squad disbanded. Bryant was the only starter to return the following season, and D-Fish headed upstate to the Golden State Warriors—though he would be reunited with Kobe just a few short years later.