The Kings–Lakers rivalry is a National Basketball Association (NBA) rivalry between the Sacramento Kings and the Los Angeles Lakers. Historically, the rivalry has been seen as a very intense one, with constant playoff series match-ups occurring in the early days in the NBA (including the 1947–48 NBL season and 1948–49 BAA season in the two predecessor leagues they both played in before they merged to become the NBA) and some bitterly contested playoff series match-ups occurring within the early 2000s. They have shared a home state of California since the Kings relocated to Sacramento in 1985.
Background The Sacramento Kings would be born as an independent franchise in 1923 by first operating as the Rochester Seagrams. However, after primarily operating as an independent franchise for most of their existence up until the World War II years, with Prohibition's long-term effects resulting in the team's final seasons as an independent franchise leading to them first play as the Rochester Eber Seagrams and then as the Rochester Pros, they would finally enter the National Basketball League in 1945 after World War II ended alongside the Youngstown Bears and the Indianapolis Kautskys as the Rochester Royals after the Rochester franchise previously declined entry back when that league originally was known as the Midwest Basketball Conference in the mid-1930s. Rochester's first season would see immediate success, as while they wouldn't get the best record in the NBL that season, they would win the NBL championship by first winning 3–1 over the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons in the Eastern Division Playoff and then sweeping the Sheboygan Red Skins 3–0 in the championship round. By contrast, the Lakers would see anything but immediate success upon their entry into the NBL as the Detroit Gems the following season, as they would see themselves with the worst record that season through a 4–40 record while the Royals entered the championship round yet again (though failed to repeat that season). Following that massive failure of a season for the Gems, the franchise would move operations to Minneapolis to become the Minneapolis Lakers. From there, the Royals and Lakers would become the two best teams in their respective divisions in the 1947–48 NBL season, with them eventually seeing each other in the NBL championship that season, with the Lakers winning their first ever playoff series match-up 3–1 due to their newest center pick-up, George Mikan from the former NBL champion Chicago American Gears.
Both teams joined the BAA in 1948 (alongside the since-rebranded Fort Wayne Pistons (now Detroit Pistons) and Indianapolis Jets, the latter of which would fold operations a year later), which would become the NBA the following year due to the merger of the younger BAA and the older NBL. During their only season of play within the BAA, the Lakers and Royals would meet up once again in a playoff setting, this time being held in the BAA's Western Division Finals, which ended with Minneapolis sweeping Rochester 2–0 and later winning the final BAA championship ever held before its merger into the modern-day NBA. The Lakers won five of these series and went on to win five NBA Championships in Minneapolis, while the Royals won the 1951 series and went on to win the 1951 NBA Finals, their sole NBA Championship.
The Royals would then go through various periods of futility and success, with a relocation to Cincinnati in 1957, a period of playoff appearances between 1962 and 1967 led by MVP point guard Oscar Robertson, another location to Kansas City, Missouri in 1972 (with a part-time residency in Omaha, Nebraska until 1975) with minimal playoff success (while renaming to the Kings to avoid confusion with the Kansas City Royals), and then finally relocating to Sacramento, California in 1985, where they remain today. Meanwhile, the Lakers would relocate to their present-day home of Los Angeles in 1960, winning six more championships between 1972 and 1988, largely with the Showtime team led by MVPs Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, coach Pat Riley, owner Jerry Buss, and general manager Jerry West. The Kings and Lakers had one playoff series against each other during this period in 1984 (while the Kings were still in Kansas City), with the Lakers sweeping the Kings 3–0.
In 1996, the Lakers signed future MVP Shaquille O'Neal in free agency, and traded for future MVP Kobe Bryant in the 1996 NBA draft. In 2000, Phil Jackson from the Chicago Bulls dynasty was hired as head coach. Meanwhile, the Kings qualified for the playoffs in 1996, and would be a perennial playoff team between 1998 and 2006, becoming known as The Greatest Show On Court. The Kings were coached by Rick Adelman and led by Chris Webber, Vlade Divac, Peja Stojaković, Jason Williams, Bobby Jackson, among others. During this time, a bitter rivalry between the teams would be renewed, facing each other in consecutive playoff series between 2000 and 2002. The Lakers would defeat the Kings in 5 games in the 2000 Western Conference First Round, while they would sweep the Kings the following year in the 2001 Semifinals en route to back-to-back championships.
2002 Western Conference Finals
Lead up During the 2001 offseason, the Kings traded Williams to the Memphis Grizzlies for Mike Bibby, who would create more stability at point guard. That season, they would finish with the best record in the NBA at 61–21. Meanwhile, the Lakers, despite an arthritic toe from O'Neal, would finish 58-24 and claimed the third seed in the Western Conference. In the playoffs, the Kings defeated the Utah Jazz and Dallas Mavericks in the playoffs to advance to the Western Conference Finals, while the Lakers would defeat the Portland Trail Blazers and San Antonio Spurs to face off with the Kings.
Game 1 and 2 The Lakers and Kings split the first two games in Sacramento. Los Angeles raced out to a 36-point first quarter in Game 1 behind 67% shooting and never trailed, paced by Kobe Bryant's 30 point effort and 26 points from Shaquille O'Neal. Chris Webber had 28 points and 14 rebounds, but the other Kings combined shot under 40 percent. Sacramento rebounded to win Game 2, paced behind Webber (21 points, 13 rebounds) and Mike Bibby (20 points). O'Neal had 35 points and 13 rebounds, but struggled with foul trouble; Bryant shot 9-for-21 from the field and was suffering from food poisoning which he contracted from a meal at the team hotel, and some felt it was done deliberately by the hotel staff. The loss snapped the NBA record 12-game playoff road winning streak for the Lakers.
Game 3 The Kings went to Staples Center and dominated Game 3 to regain home-court advantage, leading by as many as 27 and never trailing. They were again paced by Webber and Bibby, who combined for 50 points, and got solid contributions from Doug Christie (17 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals) and Vlade Divac (11 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks). Other than a brief 3-point barrage in the 4th quarter by the Lakers to cut the lead to 12, there was not much help provided for O'Neal, who had 20 points and 19 rebounds.
Game 4
In Game 4, Sacramento again got out to a fast start with a 40-point first quarter and built a 24-point first half lead. However, the Lakers cut the lead to 14 at halftime with a Samaki Walker 3-pointer at the buzzer that should not have counted (replay was not used at the time), and to 7 after three quarters. They whittled it down to 2 on the final possession with a chance to tie or win it, but Bryant missed a running layup and Shaq missed a put-back attempt. Divac knocked the ball away from the hoop in an attempt to run out the clock, but instead it wound up going to a wide open Robert Horry behind the 3 point line, who hit the 3 over Webber at the buzzer to give the Lakers an improbable victory, which tied the series going back to Sacramento. Horry scored 11 of his 18 points in the 4th quarter, including two more crucial 3-pointers. O'Neal finished with 27 points and 18 rebounds, Bryant had 25. Divac, Webber and Bibby all finished with 20+ points for the Kings.
Game 5 As the series shifted back to Sacramento for Game 5, the Kings trailed almost the entire fourth quarter, but a jump shot by Bibby off a screen with 8.2 seconds left gave them the lead and was the game-winner in a 92–91 win. Bibby scored 23 in all, and Webber had 29 points and 13 rebounds in support. Bryant led Los Angeles with 30 points, but missed a potential game winner at the buzzer. O'Neal had 28 points, but did not take a shot in the 4th quarter and fouled out.
Game 6 Game 6 is considered to be one of the most controversial games in not just NBA history, but arguably all of North American professional sports history, as numerous questionable calls went against the Kings in the fourth quarter. The Lakers, led by O'Neal's 41 points and 17 rebounds, won 106–102, setting the stage for Game 7 in Sacramento. There are allegations that the game was affected by the referees in relationship to the Tim Donaghy scandal. The Lakers shot 40 free throws overall, 27 in the fourth quarter alone, and the Kings' big men were plagued with foul trouble (Divac, Webber, Scot Pollard, and Lawrence Funderburke were called for 20 fouls, with Divac and Scot Pollard both fouling out). Webber nearly had a triple double (26 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists), Bibby scored 23, and Divac had 12 points and 12 rebounds. The Washington Post sports columnist Michael Wilbon responded to the calls in Game 6: "I wrote down in my notebook six calls that were stunningly incorrect, all against Sacramento, all in the fourth quarter when the Lakers made five baskets and 21 foul shots to hold on to their championship." For example, Wilbon pointed out that Kobe Bryant did not get a foul called on him after elbowing Mike Bibby in front of an official.
Game 7 Game 7 was tense, featuring 16 ties and 19 lead changes. In the final ten seconds with Los Angeles up 99–98, Peja Stojaković air-balled a wide open 3, and O'Neal was fouled on the rebound. After O'Neal hit 1 of 2 free throws, Bibby was fouled by Bryant and made both free throws to force overtime. The Kings' offense stalled in the extra period, and the Lakers prevailed 112–106. Sacramento was undone by poor free throw shooting (16–30 from the line), a horrid 2–20 from behind the arc, and a seeming unwillingness for anyone other than Bibby to take crucial shots down the stretch. O'Neal scored 35 and Bryant added 30 in the victory, as all five Lakers starters finished in double figures. Bibby finished with 29 points, and Webber finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 8 assists. Divac added 15 points and 10 rebounds. To date, this is the latest postseason meeting between the two teams.
Series Overview