“Mr. Bryant is going to get a little discouraged with getting no touches” – Chauncey Billups broke down a brilliant plan that led to Detroit shocking L.A. in the 2004 Finals originally appeared on Basketball Network.
In the summer of 2003, when future Hall of Famers Gary Payton and Karl Malone signed with the Los Angeles Lakers, nearly everyone was convinced that Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant were on their way to a fourth title in five years.
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Phil Jackson’s squad had just added two seasoned veterans, both eager to crown their brilliant careers with a championship ring. But not even in their wildest dreams could they have imagined that the Detroit Pistons would rip that trophy out of their hands.
Alongside the 2011 Dallas Mavericks, this title is widely considered one of the most unlikely championships ever and Finals MVP Chauncey Billups has explained the brilliant plan Detroit had for Kobe Bryant, the biggest outside threat on the Lakers.
This was the most important thing they had to do in order to shock the more talented opponent.
“We’re telling Ben [Wallace] the whole time, ‘Take fouls when you need to, but don’t get yourself into foul trouble,” Billups said. “If you need to give up a layup, cool — we’re going to get what we want on the other side. What’s going to happen is Mr. Bryant is going to get a little discouraged with getting no touches.”
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“Then, when the second half comes around, he’s pressing. He’s going to start coming down the court and just breaking the offense. When you do that, you’re done — you’re playing right into our hands. Even if you start making those shots, you’re finished.”
The Lakers leaned too heavily on Bryant and Shaq
At that point, Shaq’s dominance had just started to decline a bit — though he was still a beast — while the Black Mamba was entering his prime, hungry to prove he was the true alpha of the team. In that series, Bryant ended up taking 29 more shots than O’Neal, finishing with just 38 percent from the field while averaging 22.2 points per game. Shaq, on the other hand, was phenomenal, putting up 26.6 points on 63.1 percent shooting.
Even though they had two proven veterans in Payton and Malone, the Lakers leaned too heavily on Bryant and Shaq isolation plays. Kobe himself took the blame for the Finals loss.
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“On the Pistons thing, that’s my fault because I didn’t get us prepared to run our automatics,” Bryant admitted. “I didn’t get Gary, I didn’t get Karl, I didn’t get the new guys on board enough to be able to execute properly and we got to Detroit; it forces us to play our offense 94 feet and we weren’t ready and we couldn’t do it and everything just capitulated from there and that still sits with me, ’cause we should have won that.”
That team fell apart quickly
It’s hard to argue with Kobe’s point when you look at the numbers — Malone averaged just 7.3 points in that series, while Payton chipped in only 4.2, with the two shooting a combined 33 percent from the field. You get the feeling the Lakers could’ve gotten a lot more from those vets — if only the offense had been more balanced.
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In the end, that team fell apart quickly. One of the most dominant duos in NBA history — Shaq and Kobe — split up soon after. For years, rumors swirled that Kobe believed he should be the team’s number one option, while Shaq let his play do the talking.
It felt like everything came to a head in that series and Billups and the Pistons brilliantly capitalized on it with a tactical plan that only deepened the divide between the two future Hall of Famers.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 17, 2025, where it first appeared.