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American Morning

Lakers Looking Toward History

Aired June 04, 2001 - 10:54   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LAURIE OKMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: With Philly's win over the Bucks last night, the Lakers finally know who they'll be facing in the NBA finals. But the way L.A. is blowing through the play-offs, the question is does it really matter? Only the 16 titles by the Boston Celtics outrank the 12 owned by the Laker franchise, though many seems to think Number 13 is already foregone conclusion. But these Lakers want more. They want history, an unprecedented 15-0 play-off record to be exact.

CNN/"Sport Illustrated"'s Tom Rinaldi explores the possibilities.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM RINALDI, CNN/SI CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If darkness defines light, and stillness informs the storm; for the Lakers, the long flaw of the regular season has formed the chance for the perfect play-offs, at least so far.

RICK FOX, LAKERS FORWARD: I think the season would be a little tainted by the way we went through the regular season, but what better way to right that ship than to put that behind us and to finish a play-off run like we have right here in front of us all, It went perfect.

PHIL JACKSON, LAKERS HEAD COACH: They love to be distinguished by something that was really a trademark or a figure or something that said how good they really are, because of what their record has been during the course of the year.

RINALDI: 15-0: History and perfection, a desire and a distraction. While the Lakers pursue this year's title, they also play to set precedent, conjuring comparisons along the way. Could they beat teams they'll never have to face: the '82-83 Sixers, who went 12-1 for the best postseason record ever; the '95-'96 Bulls, 72-10, 15-3 in the playoffs. A postseason sweep would be singular. But it is pursued largely in silence.

SHAQUILLE O'NEAL, LAKERS FORWARD: I'm not even worried about that. We're just trying to win another championship and however we win, a win is a win. It would be nice if we could do that, but we're not even worried about that. We're not thinking about that, and we're just focusing on one game at a time.

KOBE BRYANT, LAKERS GUARD: The only time we think about it is when you guys ask us about it. That's the only time we think about it. We do a very good job of staying in the moment and taking it game to game, and that's what we're going to continue to do.

JACKSON: I don't want to talk directly about it because the first game, the next game, the next quarter, the next tip-ball that starts the game is what is important. And we know that, and these players are really attentive to that fact.

RINALDI: Quests are bold, brash things, tough to keep quiet. When even your victims praise you, that just makes it tougher.

ANTONIO DANIELS, SPURS GUARD: I don't know. If they keep playing at the caliber of basketball they're playing right now, it's going to be very difficult for someone to beat them, let alone beat them four times.

DAVID ROBINSON, SPURS CENTER: They were fantastic. They really -- man, they had an answer every time for everything. There's no way any of the Eastern teams would beat them if they play anywhere close to that.

RINALDI: Staying in the moment is fine. But not all moments are created equal, and the Lakers have created this one. All the teams, all the titles, one chance to top them all.

DEREK FISHER, LAKERS GUARD: The emotion and part of being in the finals and you know having the chance to defend our title and possibly you know something that hasn't been done before, all those things emotionally start to pull away at you as we talk about it every day for the next eight days. And so, our challenge is to stay focused on what our goal is, and that's to win a championship.

RINALDI: Without loss, victory would have no meaning; but without history, triumph would have no measure.

In Los Angeles, I'm Tom Rinaldi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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