2001–02 Los Angeles Lakers season

The 2001–02 Los Angeles Lakers season was the 56th season of the franchise, 54th in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and 42nd in Los Angeles. During the offseason, the Lakers signed All-Star guard Mitch Richmond and acquired Lindsey Hunter from the Milwaukee Bucks. They finished second in the Pacific Division with a 58–24 record. Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal were both selected for the 2002 NBA All-Star Game in which Bryant won MVP honors, but O'Neal did not participate in the All-Star game due to an injury. After defeating the Portland Trail Blazers and San Antonio Spurs in the first two rounds of playoffs, the Lakers where pushed to the brink once more in the Western Conference Finals by their archrivals the Sacramento Kings who they narrowly defeated in a deciding seventh ga

2001–02 Los Angeles Lakers season

The 2001–02 Los Angeles Lakers season was the 56th season of the franchise, 54th in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and 42nd in Los Angeles. During the offseason, the Lakers signed All-Star guard Mitch Richmond and acquired Lindsey Hunter from the Milwaukee Bucks. They finished second in the Pacific Division with a 58–24 record. Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal were both selected for the 2002 NBA All-Star Game in which Bryant won MVP honors, but O'Neal did not participate in the All-Star game due to an injury. After defeating the Portland Trail Blazers and San Antonio Spurs in the first two rounds of playoffs, the Lakers where pushed to the brink once more in the Western Conference Finals by their archrivals the Sacramento Kings who they narrowly defeated in a deciding seventh ga