Twenty-four days after being swept by the eventual league champion, the Lakers signed Phil Jackson as head coach.

Jackson, famous for coaching Michael Jordan and the six-time champion Chicago Bulls, would build his triangle offense around Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant.

General Manager Jerry West surrounded O'Neal and Bryant with effective role players such as Glen Rice, Ron Harper (who had experience with Jackson's triangle offense as part of the 1996–1998 Bulls),[2] and A.C. Green (who was a member of the last two Lakers championship teams).

[11] The Trail Blazers stormed back in the next game, giving the Lakers their worst home loss of the season in a 106–77 shellacking.

[14][15] Amid several controversial foul calls by referee Dick Bavetta against members of the Trail Blazers,[16] Portland relinquished a 75–60 fourth quarter lead.

[18][19] In the 1997–1998 NBA season, the Chicago Bulls narrowly defeated the Pacers, 4 games to 3, in the Eastern Conference Finals.

[20] The 1998–1999 NBA season began with a lockout but saw Indiana return to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost to the New York Knicks.

[25] The Pacers started the season 7–7 but eventually finished with an Eastern Conference best 56–26 record, including a franchise-best 25 game win streak at home.

[27] Indiana faced the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round and took the series in six games, earning a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals.

[28] The Pacers would face their rival Knicks,[29] winning a memorable six-game series in a reversal of fortunes from years past.

[30] With the victory, Indiana advanced to the first NBA Finals in franchise history, becoming the second former ABA team to do so after the Spurs the previous season.

However, Los Angeles suffered a major setback when Kobe Bryant left the game in the 1st quarter due to a sprained ankle and did not return.

Jalen Rose later admitted that he intentionally stuck out his foot when Kobe shot a jumpshot in order to trip him when he landed.

The Lakers were desperate and attempted another run to get within 3 points, but Reggie Miller nailed all his free throws at the end of the game to give Indiana a 9-point win.

Even though Bryant and O'Neal were in foul trouble in the first half (each picking up his third with 5 minutes remaining in the second quarter), Indiana could not take advantage and did not extend their lead.

Midway through overtime, O'Neal committed his sixth foul but 21-year-old Bryant delivered three clutch shots, as the Lakers were able to overcome back-up center John Salley's inability to effectively defend Smits.

After the two teams traded blows in the first quarter, Mark Jackson concluded the period with a turn-around half-court shot at the buzzer to give the Pacers a 26–24 advantage.

Indiana added two more points to their lead, and entered the final period in a position to force a decisive seventh game.

The Pacers made one final valiant effort, but it fell short and the Lakers clinched their first championship in twelve years.

[34] The 2000 NBA Finals was aired in the United States on NBC (including KNBC-TV in Los Angeles and WTHR in Indianapolis), with Bob Costas and Doug Collins on play-by-play and color commentary respectively.

It was also the first major professional sports championship for the city of Los Angeles since that same year, when the Dodgers won the 1988 World Series.

[39] However, the Lakers were unable to score home-court advantage throughout the playoffs in the latter two, yielding them to the San Antonio Spurs and Sacramento Kings, respectively.

Retiring center Rik Smits was replaced by future NBA All-Star Jermaine O'Neal, acquired from Portland in the deal for Dale Davis.

However; as the crowd grew during the night following the victory, fans began acting unruly until the celebrations devolved into a riot.

[44] Upon seeing the destruction following the victory, owner Dr. Jerry Buss and Magic Johnson would heavily condemn the vandalism and urge fans to leave the area and celebrate in peace.