Ahmad Rashad and Jim Gray served as sideline reporters. Aftermath This was the first NBA championship for the Lakers since . 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. This championship came in the Lakers’ first year in their new arena, Staples Center. The Lakers held a championship parade on June 21, 2000. The Lakers went on to score a “three-peat” when they won the NBA championship in and , making them the first team to open a new arena with three straight NBA championships. 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. In addition, the Lakers were able to beat both of those teams in the Conference Finals. They won the championship over the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets, respectively. , the series remains the Pacers’ only NBA Finals appearance. The Pacers would rebuild in the subsequent season. Retiring center Rik Smits was replaced by future NBA All-Star Jermaine O'Neal, acquired from Portland in the deal for Dale Davis. Mark Jackson and Chris Mullin both left as free-agents. Larry Bird resigned as head coach; he would later resurface as President of Basketball Operations in . The Pacers continued to make the playoffs every season until 2006, the year after Reggie Miller retired. Riots During the Lakers' victory on June 18, an estimated crowd of over 6,000 fans gathered outside Staples Center to view the game and later celebrate the victory. However; as the crowd grew during the night following the victory, fans began acting unruly until the celebrations devolved into a riot. Fans began lighting numerous bonfires or torching nearby cars in the street, things devolved quickly as vandals also began looting and vandalizing nearby buildings. LAPD was criticized for its late response hours after the damage began, there was no released total of the overall property damage but 70 cars and a local dealership were destroyed. 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. LAPD were forced to re evaluate their security plans for that election year's Democratic National Convention following the destruction. See also 2000 NBA