NBA FINALS NOTES

The Indiana Pacers weren’t consulted in voting for the most valuable player of the NBA finals. But if they had been asked, they would have added their voices to the unanimous chorus in support of Laker center Shaquille O’Neal.

“He’s very dominating,” Coach Larry Bird said Monday. “We had our problems. He was phenomenal throughout the series.”

Jalen Rose agreed. “Shaquille O’Neal was great. He was dominant from beginning to end,” Rose said. “We never had an answer to that guy, and that’s really the key to the series.”

Veteran Reggie Miller traced the overall improvement in O’Neal’s game this season to the arrival of Phil Jackson as the Lakers’ coach.

“I think a lot of it has to do with Phil. I think Phil came in here and really gave Shaq a boost of confidence,” Miller said. “And understanding the respect factor Phil brought with him, I think Shaq understood that from Day One, I think, when [Jackson] sat down and told him whose team it really was.

“I know there was some type of tension between [O’Neal] and Kobe [Bryant], but Phil came in here and [said] this is Shaq’s team. And that’s no knock on Kobe, because he’s a fabulous player. But everything should run through Shaq. Kobe’s a great complementary player. That’s no shame on Kobe. But Shaq is Shaq.

“I think he’s grown mentally-wise, because when he was in Orlando, he never would have found cutters like he was finding them throughout this series and really throughout the year [playing] the triangle. He’s become a much more complete passer. . . . Phil brought a lot of that science with him, and it’s paid off.”

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Bird reiterated Monday he won’t return as coach next season, adding to the Pacers’ disappointment.

“I wanted to send Larry out with a championship, to thank him for the opportunity he’s not only given myself, but the team,” Rose said. “He has propelled us into one of the elite teams in the league. We’ve been knocking on the door to get to this point a couple of seasons, and we finally got here this year. We came in here trying to win a championship, and the Lakers were just a better team.”

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Laker forward Robert Horry, on the suggestion the Lakers’ victory will transform them into “America’s team”:

“Now, because we won it, everyone will jump on the bandwagon. But if something happens next year, we have a little lull, they’ll jump off.”