"I think that was their deciding game on that dynasty" - Rasheed Wallace revisits being dunked on by Shaquille O'Neal
On Showtime's "All The Smoke," Rasheed Wallace revisited the famous Shaquille O'Neal dunk in Game seven of the 2000 Western Conference finals.
The dunk sealed the Lakers's victory and sent the Trail Blazers home. Wallace stated:
"It was to the point where I thought I could get him on a jab. ... I really didn't jump and it kept going over my hand and then big fella, boom.
"Rest was history, you know. That to me, I think that was their deciding game on that dynasty that those guys had at that time he was a part of."
On the road to his first championship, @SHAQ had one of the most iconic plays in his career…the alley-oop dunk to seal Game 7 of the 2000 WCF. @RoParrish sits down with Shaq to revisit that play in this episode of Storytime with Shaq. https://t.co/xfybU1XPKu
The dunk is one of the most iconic in NBA history, and is still played inside the Crypto.com Arena as an ode to the Kobe & Shaq Lakers. The LA Lakers would go on to become champions, defeating the Indiana Pacers in six games.
LA will remain at the top for the next couple of seasons as well, despite certain teams being better than them at the time.
Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant's contentious 2000s three-peat
The last three-peat to happen in the NBA took place between 2000 and 2002, when the Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal-led Los Angeles Lakers under head coach Phil Jackson added three more championships to their tally of eleven at the time.
The three-peat solidified the legacy of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal among the greatest Lakers of all time.
However, at least two contentious moments sullied the achievement and remain etched in the memories of NBA fans, particularly those of the Lakers' adversaries at the time.
The first one is the aforementioned Portland Trail Blazers and LA Lakers game, the 2000 Western Conference Finals. Bleacher Report ranks this game as the fourth-worst officiated game in NBA history.
Wallace was already in the referees' crosshairs, and being that he was playing for a small-market team only gave the Lakers the benefit of the doubt. The Lakers attempted 37 free-throws in the game, more than twice what the Trail Blazers attempted - 16.
The second was Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals. Bleacher Report, in the same article, ranked this as the second-worst officiated game of all time.
The Sacramento Kings faced the Lakers and were touted as the clear favorites to win the series. The Kings went 3-2 up in the series, but then Game 6 hit them like a truck.
This game is synonymous with certain "rigged" games in the NBA, with the prevailing sentiment being that if the Kings had won, the NBA would have had to broadcast a Sacramento vs New Jersey finals, a devastating prospect from a financial standpoint.