The Player:
If you don't know who Derek Fisher is then for you haven't watched one of one the greatest playoffs moments in NBA history: the 0.4 shot.
After being selected by the Lakers in the 1996 NBA draft, Fisher spent his first 8 seasons with the team, a span that included 3 NBA titles. Although those championships first bring to mind the Kobe-Shaq duo, the supporting cast was excellent and Fisher was a key part of it. He played in 56 of the 58 playoff games of the Three-peat and he was the season and playoff third scorer of the team in 2001 and 2002 with averages of 13.4 and 10.2 points per game in playoffs.
In 2004 with the addition of Gary Payton, Fisher was relegated to the bench and his minutes felt from 34.5 the previous season to 21.6, but he had his moment of glory in the playoffs against the reigning champion Spurs. In game 5, with the series tied at 2, Tim Duncan made a supposedly game-winner leaving the Lakers one point down with just 0.4 seconds left. After three time-outs, Payton found Fisher, who managed to catch, turn, and release a fadeaway jumper over the perfect defense of Manu Ginobili. The ball went in and it immediately became a classic playoff play.
After the Lakers were defeated by the Pistons in the Finals that year Fisher became a free-agent and trying to get the money and the minutes the Lakers weren't able to give him signed with the Warriors. Two seasons later he was traded to Utah and in his only season there he led a young Jazz team (he had more playoff games that all the other players together) to the Western Conference Finals.
The situation involving his 10-month-old daughter, that was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a degenerative and rare form of eye cancer which required surgery and treatment at New York led him to ask to be released from his contract with the Jazz to be in a city where she could be properly treated. Los Angeles was one of those cities an Fisher accepted a 3-year 14 million contract, resigning around 7 millions from his previous contract with the Jazz.
His clutch plays in game 4 of the 2009 NBA Finals against Orlando will be always remembered among the top moments in Lakers history. Despite missing his five 3-points attempts in the game, he didn't doubt to take the three that sent the game to overtime and then late in the extra time made another three to put the Lakers ahead for good. L.A. took a 3-1 lead in the championship series and eventually won the title in game 5. Fisher and Bryant are the only Lakers that were part of both the three-peat and the 2009 Title. |