2004 NBA Finals

The 2004 NBA Finals was the championship round of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2003–04 season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. This season's NBA Finals was contested between the Western Conference playoff champion Los Angeles Lakers and the Eastern Conference playoff champion Detroit Pistons. The Lakers held home court advantage, and the series was played under a best-of-seven format. This was the third NBA Finals matchup in the history of the Lakers-Pistons rivalry. Although the Lakers, headed by Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, were considered the heavy favorites, the underdog Pistons handily won the series in five games. The series is commonly referred to as a "five-game sweep" because Detroit dominated in each of their four wins while the Lakers barely managed to win Game 2 in overtime. This marked the Pistons' third NBA championship and their first since their back-to-back championships in 1989 and 1990. The series ultimately featured the perceived underdog Pistons dominating a Lakers team that included four future Hall of Famers. Pistons' owner William Davidson became the first owner in American sports history to win two championships in one calendar year; eight days earlier, his Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Calgary Flames to win the NHL's Stanley Cup Finals in seven games. As of 2026, this is the most recent major professional sports championship to be won by a Detroit-based team at their home venue.