Derek Fisher is one of the greatest role players in the history of the NBA. He spent 18 seasons in the league, most of them with the Los Angeles Lakers, and played his part in all 5 of their title runs between 2000 and 2010. He was never the main act but knew his role and performed it very well for an extremely long period of time.
While he is well known for his time with the Lakers, playoff success seemed to follow Fisher wherever he went. He was a part of the only Conference Finals run that the Utah Jazz have had in this century in 2007 and was a member of that 2011-12 Oklahoma City Thunder squad that made it to the NBA Finals. In total, he played in 259 playoff games in his career and won 161 of them, both of which were NBA records until a certain LeBron James came along.
Derek Fisher Is The Only Player To Have Played Against And Beaten Every Team In A Conference In The Postseason
It is incredible when you think that this 6’1″ point guard held those records considering all the greats that have come before him. While LeBron got the better of him when it came to playoff games and wins, there is one accomplishment where Fisher even has the King beat. A Reddit user pointed out that he is the only player to have played against and beaten every team in a conference in the postseason.
That is an amazing feat right there to have played against and beaten every team in the Western Conference, and we doubt anyone is ever going to match Fisher here. To go with success on a team front for a very long period of time, one also needs to be fortunate enough to get a chance to play against every team, as Fisher did during his various pit stops. LeBron, for example, dominated the Eastern Conference for so long, but even he wasn’t able to get an opportunity to play against and beat every team in the Conference.
Fisher, despite his ties to the Lakers, had some high praise for Clippers stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George recently as he picked them over Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown who are fresh off a Finals appearance. He also hailed Stephen Curry by putting him in the same category as Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, and Tim Duncan as he stated that wherever Steph is, success is going to follow.
