LOS ANGELES, June 14 (UPI) -- Another June, another championship parade for the Los Angeles Lakers. And Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant practically set a date for next year.
O'Neal, the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player each of the last three years, led the Lakers in a parade and rally Friday in downtown Los Angeles to celebrate a third straight championship before an estimated crowd of one million.
"We'll be back next year," O'Neal said. "We want to get number 10 (titles) for (coach) Phil Jackson, the greatest coach in the world. Put them fours up. Put them fours up I said."
Bryant also promised the Lakers will make it four straight next season.
"I told you all last year we were going back-to-back-to-back," Bryant said. "We have the best coach ever, the most dominant player in the world and the best team. We'll be back next year. See you next year."
The festivities started at City Hall, where players and coaches boarded 11 red double-decker buses and traveled south on Figueroa Street to the Staples Center.
Longtime broadcaster Chick Hearn, who had heart surgery in December and also suffered a broken hip this year, served as emcee.
Once again, second-year reserve forward Mark Madsen provided the most laughs with his clumsy dance moves.
Madsen spoke in Spanish and led the crowd in a chant of "Quatro, quatro, quatro."
The Lakers completed a four-game sweep of the New Jersey Nets with a 113-107 victory Wednesday night, giving Jackson his record-tying ninth NBA title -- three straight with the Chicago Bulls from 1991-93 and 1996-98 and three with the Lakers.
Jackson, 58, tied Boston's Hall of Fame coach Red Auerbach for the most NBA titles and recorded his 156th career postseason victory, moving past Pat Riley for the most all-time.
O'Neal set an NBA record with 145 points in a four-game series. He averaged 36.3 points and 12.3 rebounds in what may be the most dominant NBA Finals performance in league history.
The Lakers have won 14 titles -- nine in Los Angeles and five in Minneapolis. They have appeared in 12 of the last 23 NBA Finals, winning eight. Only the Boston Celtics have won more NBA titles with 16.
At age 23, Bryant is the youngest player ever to have three championship rings and forward Robert Horry earned his fifth ring after winning back-to-back titles with the Houston Rockets in 1994 and 1995.
