Less than a month after the Lakers won the NBA championship, after he made two momentous three-point shots in Game 4 of the NBA Finals and after the parade down Figueroa and the celebration at the Coliseum, Derek Fisher was back at work in the gym.
He refused to rest on the team's accomplishment of winning the franchise's 15th title. Fisher wanted to get his body in the right shape to help the Lakers repeat and, equally important, to show that he is fit to play beyond this season.
Fisher, 35, in his 14th season and the final year of a contract that pays him $5 million, said he plans on playing beyond the 2009-10 NBA season.
"I'm definitely not shutting it down after this season," Fisher said after the Lakers' practice Monday.
He plays point guard, a position in which so many younger players are quick and looking to attack him. Fisher knows that teammates Jordan Farmar, 22, and Shannon Brown, 23, are looking to push him for the starting job.
Fisher is not ready to think about retirement.
"I don't see any reason why he can't play past this season," Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said. "I know that we all think that we can get away with age, but age does have a tendency to level us out as we go along. But he's done such a great job of keeping his whole physique and his training together, it's awful hard to see any flaws in him right now."
Fisher said he spoke with Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak so he was aware of where Fisher stands.
"It was something that I . . . shared with Mitch just so he didn't have to guess because of certain planning that needs to be in place for him in terms of this organization," Fisher said. "At this point, I'm just concentrating on the things I need to do to lay out the type of performance individually and having it fit collectively to make sure we win the championship.
"Anything short of that, anybody and everybody starts trying to find reasons why we didn't. The first person they are going to point to is [the point guard]. I've accepted it and I'm relishing the opportunity to continue to prove that age is not some kind of automatic you've got a sticker on your forehead that says you can't play anymore."
Besides the training, Fisher had a hectic summer in which he wrote a book, "Character Driven: Life, Lessons and Basketball," and had his first basketball camp in Los Angeles.
He also has played for the Golden State Warriors and Utah Jazz, but Fisher hopes he can finish his career with the Lakers.
