The Los Angeles Lakers have reached the NBA finals for the fourth time in five years with a 96-90 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on May 31. The Lakers went through 4-2 in the best of seven play-offs, thanks to high scoring from Shaquille O'Neal, Kareem Rush and 32 points from Kevin Garnett, who is currently the NBA Most Valuable Player. The Lakers have won an impressive 12 out of their last 13 series. They will now face either Indiana or Detroit in the finals and will be hoping to add to the three straight titles they won from 2000 to 2002.
Months of intense speculation were finally ended when English Premier side Chelsea sacked its Italian coach Claudio Ranieri, despite the fact that Chelsea finished second in the league - its highest league position in 49 years - and reached the semifinals of the Champions League. Ever since Russian billionaire Roman Abramovitch bought the London club last summer, Ranieri's job has been on the line, even though he was a massively popular figure with fans and journalists thanks to his wonderful sense of humor. Ranieri has said that he would like to continue working in the Premier League, while Jose Mourinho, who coached Porto to Champions League victory, will take over at Chelsea.
In an intriguing example of soccer history in the making, French and Real Madrid midfielder Zinedine Zidane was voted the best European footballer of all time in a special BBC radio phone-in poll. Zidane finished ahead of Dutch legend Johan Cruyff in second place, and the awesome George Best in third place. Interestingly, David Beckham didn't make the top 40. Zidane has consistently shown his breathtaking skill and grace at every level of the game, and fans will be hoping for more of the same at Euro 2004.
In an almost depressingly predictable race, Ferrari's Michael Schumacher clocked his sixth win in seven races in the Formula One World Championship in front of a home crowd at the European Grand Prix on May 30. Having crashed out at Monaco, Schumacher was back to winning ways, with his teammate Rubens Barrichello taking second spot on the podium and Briton Jenson Button taking third place for BAR. Schumacher said that rival McLaren driver Kimi Raikkonen helped him to win by holding up the rest of the field on the seventh lap.
