Kobe Bryant‘s injury in Game 2 of the 2000 NBA Finals squeezed the life out of the Los Angeles Lakers. He was their second-best player. Bryant was the midrange assassin who perfectly complemented Shaquille O’Neal’s dominance in the paint.
Without him, the Lakers needed to fill in a massive gap.
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Don’t care about Kobe
Whereas the Lakers entered Game 3 with anxiety, the Indiana Pacers didn’t seem to care. Whether or not Bryant would play, their strategy remained the same: stop the Big Diesel in the paint. O’Neal was the heart of the triangle offense. The Lakers’ playbook flowed through him. Jalen Rose and Reggie Miller had no concerns about moving forward with the series without Kobe.
“They would be the same team with four reporters playing for them as long as they have Shaq in the paint,” Rose said, per the Los Angeles Times.
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“We’re still going to prepare as if [Bryant] is going to play, but they’ve played without Kobe before, as well as not playing with Shaq,” guard Reggie Miller said. “There’s a difference. So it really doesn’t mean anything if [Bryant] is playing or not.”
The Pacers might have underestimated Kobe’s absence. With Bryant out, the Lakers struggled on offense. O’Neal, for all his dominance, could only do so much. His 33 points of 15-of-24 shooting were not enough to defeat the Pacers in Game 3. Ron Harper (14 points), Robert Horry (10), and Derek Fisher (10) were the only Lakers who scored double figures.
I got this
The Pacers soon found out how important Bryant was to the Lakers’ success. Shaq fouled out midway through overtime. Perhaps in the back of their minds, they were going to cruise to a victory and put the series at 3-2.
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But 21-year-old Bryant knocked down several clutch shots in overtime. He even signalled to his own team to calm down. Yes, Shaq was their superstar, but Kobe is here to save the day.
Pacers point guard Mark Jackson looked back on their epic duel with the Purple and Gold. He firmly believes that Bryant was the one responsible for beating the Pacers and delivering the Lakers the Larry O’Brien trophy.
“They don’t win the championship if Kobe Bryant doesn’t take over Game 4 in Indiana. Shaq fouls out, we go into overtime, and Kobe Bryant basically says, give me the basketball, get out my way, and takes over the game,” the former point guard said during his appearance on The Mark Jackson Show.
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“They won a championship because he took over that game. Shaquille O’Neal averaged, I believe, 39 points and 17 rebounds in that NBA Finals run, but Kobe Bryant won that championship by winning that one game,” Jackson concluded.
Game 4 pretty much solidified Bryant’s stature as a true superstar. He wasn’t a sidekick who needed O’Neal to survive. He proved he could carry a team by himself, especially when it mattered most. At a young age, Kobe proved he could carry the weight of the entire franchise on his shoulders. That night in Indiana signified the birth of a legend.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 31, 2025, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.