2004 NBA Finals - Aftermath

Aftermath

The Pistons made the Finals again in 2005, losing to the Spurs in a tough seven-game series. That season, the Pistons won 54 games and defeated the Philadelphia 76ers (5 games), Indiana Pacers (6 games) and Miami Heat (7 games) on their way back to the finals. However the Spurs, who likewise play a defensive style, would defeat them in a tough Game 7. The Pistons would continue their run of Eastern Conference superiority for 3 more years, losing in the Conference Finals each time. After a loss to the Boston Celtics in the 2007-08 season, management would finally break up the core of the team and enter a period of dormancy.

The Lakers' collapse became apparent in the days following the Finals. Head coach Phil Jackson abruptly resigned as head coach. Shaquille O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat, then Gary Payton was also traded and Karl Malone was left unsigned, then retired. The 2004-05 NBA season was a tough one for the Lakers, winning only 34 games and missed the playoffs for only the sixth time in the team's history. Jackson returned to the Lakers in the offseason; despite writing a book called The Last Season: A Team in Search of Its Soul, in which he voiced disdain on Kobe Bryant by calling him 'uncoachable', he and Bryant would bury the hatchet once the season began. Jackson and Bryant would later produce three more NBA Finals appearances and two NBA championships in six seasons before Jackson retired at the conclusion of the 2011 NBA Playoffs. Meanwhile, O'Neal, along with Payton and Dwyane Wade of the Heat, won the 2006 championship.

With the Pistons' win, it was the 21st championship among the four professional sports teams in Detroit (NFL's Lions, MLB's Tigers and NHL's Red Wings). The Red Wings made it 22 upon winning the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals.