| Revision as of 11:20, 2 April 2006 editLigulem (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers28,245 edits replacing deprecated {{citenews}} with {{cite news}} using AWB← Previous edit | Revision as of 08:31, 12 April 2006 edit undoMwelch (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users5,587 edits Laker departure and Warrior careerNext edit → | ||
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| The Lakers went on to close out the series with the Spurs in six games and defeat the ] for an NBA Finals place. The Lakers were upset in the finals by the ] 4-1. That memorable season was Fisher's last with the Lakers. | The Lakers went on to close out the series with the Spurs in six games and defeat the ] for an NBA Finals place. The Lakers were upset in the finals by the ] 4-1. That memorable season was Fisher's last with the Lakers. | ||
| After the 2004 season, Fisher became a free agent. Although Fisher was popular, the Lakers saw him as essentially a role player. Their contract offer to him — $15 million ] over three years reflected that. By contrast, the Golden State Warriors offered Fisher $37 million over six years and guaranteed him the role of the team's starting point guard. | |||
| On ], 2004, he signed with the Golden State Warriors as a free agent. | |||
| In addition to those factors, the Laker team he had always known was splitting apart. Head coach ] had retired. star center Shaquille O'Neal had been traded away, and star guard Kobe Bryant was reportedly considering signing with the ]. | |||
| On ], 2004, he signed with the Golden State Warriors as a free agent. Ironically, he had told the Warriors he would accept their offer only hours before Bryant first announced that he would in fact stay with the Lakers, and then immediately called Fisher asking Fisher to return to the team. Fisher has not speculated about whether he would have made a different decision had Bryant's announcement and call come before Fisher committed to the Warriors. | |||
| Through his first two seasons in Golden State, Fisher's term there has been something of a disappointment. The team has continued to struggle mightly and languish near the bottom of the Western Conference standings. Fisher has stated his primary reason for leaving the Lakers to come to the Warriors was the chance to run his own team as the starting point guard, but he has long since been replaced in that role and is back to coming off the bench. | |||
| On the brighter side, in the 2005-2005 season, he has been productive in his role on the team, averaging over 13 points a game, the highest season scoring average of his career. | |||
| ==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 08:31, 12 April 2006
Derek Fisher (born August 9 1974 in Little Rock, Arkansas) is an NBA player for the Golden State Warriors.
Fisher was a graduate of Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, and attended the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He was selected 24th overall in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers, and spent his first eight seasons with them. He averaged double digits in points in three different seasons (2000-2001, 2001-2002, and 2002-2003) and won three consecutive NBA championships with the team. An underrated part of the supporting cast behind superstars Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, Fisher played a vital contribution to the 2000-2001 playoff run, which the Lakers stormed through with an NBA record 15-1 mark.
However, Fisher's finest playoff hour came in Game 5 of the 2003-2004 Western Conference Semifinals between the Lakers and the defending champion San Antonio Spurs. With the series tied at two games apiece Game 5 was a tight affair, neither team willing to give the other the lead in the series -- particularly not the Spurs, as Game 5 was on their home court. With 11 seconds remaining, Kobe Bryant hit a jump shot to put the Lakers up 72-71. The Spurs, needing last-minute heroics, thought they got it when Tim Duncan somehow made an 18 foot shot despite falling away from the basket and despite solid defense by Shaquille O'Neal. The Spurs led 73-72, but Duncan left 0.4 on the clock when his shot dropped, giving the Lakers one last chance. After a couple of time-outs, Gary Payton found Fisher, who managed to catch, turn and fire a shot off within the allotted 0.4 seconds to win the game. Fisher sprinted off the court, and his Laker teammates jubilantly followed hoping to declare end the game as swiftly as possible in order to avoid the referees overturning the play after the buzzer. The referees did, however, review video footage of the play. Though the Lakers were not actually on the court for the ruling, upon seeing that the ball had indeed left Fisher's hand before the clock expired, the referees allowed the basket to the count and the Lakers had won.
The play was even more remarkable considering the Lakers boasted an unparallelled lineup of superstars on court at the time in O'Neal, Bryant, Payton and Karl Malone -- all considered future Hall of Famers. Indeed the first two options for the inbounds pass of the designed play were O'Neal and Bryant. However Payton, who would inbound the ball, realized before the play that the Spurs defense would most likely deny him a good pass to either. He suspected that as the Spurs concentrated on keeping the ball away from O'Neal and Bryant, Fisher might be the player they left open, and he alerted Fisher to be ready for the possibility.
Fisher was nicknamed "The Fish that Saved L.A." for the play.
The Lakers went on to close out the series with the Spurs in six games and defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves for an NBA Finals place. The Lakers were upset in the finals by the Detroit Pistons 4-1. That memorable season was Fisher's last with the Lakers.
After the 2004 season, Fisher became a free agent. Although Fisher was popular, the Lakers saw him as essentially a role player. Their contract offer to him — $15 million USD over three years reflected that. By contrast, the Golden State Warriors offered Fisher $37 million over six years and guaranteed him the role of the team's starting point guard.
In addition to those factors, the Laker team he had always known was splitting apart. Head coach Phil Jackson had retired. star center Shaquille O'Neal had been traded away, and star guard Kobe Bryant was reportedly considering signing with the Los Angeles Clippers.
On July 16, 2004, he signed with the Golden State Warriors as a free agent. Ironically, he had told the Warriors he would accept their offer only hours before Bryant first announced that he would in fact stay with the Lakers, and then immediately called Fisher asking Fisher to return to the team. Fisher has not speculated about whether he would have made a different decision had Bryant's announcement and call come before Fisher committed to the Warriors.
Through his first two seasons in Golden State, Fisher's term there has been something of a disappointment. The team has continued to struggle mightly and languish near the bottom of the Western Conference standings. Fisher has stated his primary reason for leaving the Lakers to come to the Warriors was the chance to run his own team as the starting point guard, but he has long since been replaced in that role and is back to coming off the bench.
On the brighter side, in the 2005-2005 season, he has been productive in his role on the team, averaging over 13 points a game, the highest season scoring average of his career.
References
- Jackson, Phil (2004). The Last Season: A Team in Search of its Soul. Penguin Press. ISBN 1-59420-035-1.
- "Lakers Shock Spurs with Game 5 Miracle". MSNBC. May 14, 2004.
- "Derek Fisher's Career Statistics". NBA.com. Retrieved March 15.
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