It’s because during the 1998 Western Conference finals, the Lakers—then built around a young Shaquille O’Neal (26) and an even younger Kobe Bryant (19)—were, for the second straight spring, getting absolutely destroyed by the Jazz, a veteran-laden powerhouse led by Karl Malone and John Stockton. The Lakers were flashier and more talented, with Van Exel, Eddie Jones, Robert Horry, Rick Fox and Derek Fisher flanking O’Neal and Bryant. But the Jazz were more mature and methodical and ultimately overpowering. “We were young,” Van Exel says. “We had guys that wanted to get their points and do their thing, as opposed to going out there and winning as a group.”