Derek Fisher: The Best Playoff Point Guard Of The Last Decade

In the last decade, there have been numerous great playoff performances that have left us in awe. From Allen Iverson's 48 against the Lakers in Game 1 of the 2001 NBA Finals and Tim Duncan's near quadruple-double in the 2003 NBA Finals to Rajon Rondo's amazing triple-double of 29 points, 18 rebounds, and 13 assists in the second round of the 2010 playoffs, all these performance were phenomenal and worthy of their places in history, but sometimes it's the performance that doesn't make the highlight reel on ESPN that matters the most, and so we come to Derek Fisher. Fisher is not the flashiest or most athletic player in the league, but his grit and determination more than make up for that. 

Of the last ten years, Fisher has been the most successful player at his position, winning five championships and hitting clutch shots whenever he's been called upon. Who knows if the Lakers would have won the series against San Antonio if Fisher hadn't hit that shot with 0.4 seconds left in the game or if they would have finished off the Magic in five games had Fisher not sealed Game 4 with two clutch 3-pointers. With all due respect to players such as Byron Scott, Brian Shaw, Rick Foxx and Micheal Cooper, Derek Fisher is probably the best role player in Lakers history in terms of competitiveness, dependency, leadership on and off the court and clutch. Derek Fisher is as instrumental in all of the Lakers championships in the last 10 years as much as Kobe Bryant has been the focal point. Fisher was a leader even outside the Laker's organization, the one year he spent in Utah, with his guidance, he led the Jazz to the Western Conference Finals.

There's been a lot of speculation on what could happen at the end of Fisher's career, personally I feel that his #2 should hang in the rafters at Staples and he should be inducted into the Hall Of fame, he's more than earned it and has paid his dues, he may not be an All-Star or an MVP, but I guarantee you that he's more reliable, trustworthy and more of a leader and competitor than a certain recent league MVP has been or ever will be.