The Los Angeles Lakers have been throughly enjoying their offseason so far after winning their second straight NBA title, but their much deserved downtime hasn’t come without a fair share of speculation and uncertainty surrounding next season and the possibility of competing for a three-peat.

The one thing the Los Angeles Lakers and GM Mitch Kupchak were concerned about heading into the NBA offseason was re-signing Hall of Fame head coach Phil Jackson for one more season. There was a lot rumors flying around that the Zen Master was ready to call it quits as he seemed to be heavily leaning towards finally walking away from the game.

Fortunately, Phil Jackson decided to stay for one more year in an attempt to win his fourth three-peat during his enormously successful NBA career.

Needless to say, the Lakers and their loyal fans were finally able to stop holding their breath and look forward to another championship caliber season, but it didn’t take long before the speculation surrounded the franchise once again making many Lakers fans nervous as five-time NBA champion Derek Fisher became free agent and was being pursued by the new superpower in the NBA in the Miami Heat.

Reportedly, the Miami Heat’s president and former Lakers legend Pat Riley flew the future Hall of Famer out to Miami for a meeting to talk about a possible future with the Heat. Not only was Fisher treated like royalty with a private plane, but he had LeBron James waiting for him at the airport to help convince the five-time NBA champ to sign with Miami.

Even though the Miami Heat have taken on a new look with the addition of LeBron James, Chris Bosh and a re-signed Dwyane Wade, Derek Fisher ultimately decided to return to the Los Angeles Lakers. The one big problem with the Lakers and the re-signing of Fisher was the money. The Lakers weren’t willing to pay Fisher what he wanted, but the Heat were and that might have been the main reason he would’ve signed with Miami.

Fortunately, the money didn’t turn out to be the deciding factor as Kobe Bryant said that the Lakers “need” Derek Fisher and the team should do everything within their power to re-sign him.

As a result, Derek Fisher agreed to sign a deal worth $10.5 million over the next three years with the third year being the player’s option.