The days of teams like the Los Angeles Lakers ruling over the NBA appear to be over as parity is at an all-time high in the league.
For the first time in NBA history, the champion of the 2025 NBA Finals will mark the seventh different champion in seven seasons. Championship teams have struggled to repeat for a variety of reasons including roster construction, injuries or simply new teams rising up the ranks and inserting themselves into the championship conversation.
The Lakers are the last team to accomplish the vaunted “three-peat” and they did it behind the star tandem of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. However, Los Angeles’ roster was deep during its title runs and had veterans like Mitch Richmond riding the bench.
Richmond was recently seen with the Larry O’Brien Trophy and revealed his favorite moment from the 2002 NBA Finals against the New Jersey Nets via The Larry O’Brien Trophy:
Mitch Richmond’s last bucket of his NBA career was in the final seconds of the 2002 NBA Finals with the Lakers 🤯 pic.twitter.com/YE8GDCYzlz
— The Larry O’Brien Trophy (@nbafinalstrophy) May 24, 2025
Lakers head coach Phil Jackson subbed Richmond into the final seconds of Game 4 and the guard was able to hit one of his patented fadeaway jumpers for his final basket in the NBA. Los Angeles went on to sweep New Jersey in four games and go on to capture their third championship, allowing Richmond to retire on top. At the end of the video, Richmond says he loves the trophy, misses seeing it and was happy to reunite for a moment.
It must have been a joyous moment for Richmond to finally break through and win his first title as it had alluded him throughout his career. Richmond signed as a free agent with the Lakers and played exclusively off the bench behind Bryant. He played sparingly in the 2002 NBA Playoffs, though got his moment in the Finals with one more bucket.
Richmond was a six-time All-Star and named the 1995 NBA All-Star Game MVP. He made five All-NBA teams and was awarded NBA Rookie of the Year in 1989.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope believes 2020 Lakers would have won more championships if roster stayed together
The Los Angeles Lakers won their most recent championship in 2020, a title that the team will remember forever given all the adversity they encountered that season. The group didn’t get a chance to defend its title as the front office made changes, but Kentavious Caldwell-Pope believes they would have won more championships had the roster stayed together.
