For years, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant dominated the NBA almost at will. The Los Angeles Lakers were the driving force in the Association, winning three straight NBA championships.
Shaq was in his prime, and Kobe was up and coming. They were the perfect complement to each otherand the finest duo the league had seen since Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen did their thing.
However, their characters often collided, and their relationship ended abruptly. In fact, former teammate John Salley recently revealed how an unreleased article got Shaq to threaten to kill Kobe and forced his way out of the team.
NBA News: Shaq Got in The Best Shape Of His Career Because Of His Beef With Kobe
DJ Vlad: “So basically, in the statement from Kobe, and it was an unmitigated slaughter calling out Shaq for everything, like he had saved this up for years:
Shaq not being in shape, Kobe considered himself much more committed to the game, Kobe lived and breathed it and was obsessed and Shaq was not. Kobe said a guy selling donuts at the 7/11 had more pride in his job than Shaq did.And they didn’t put the article out because of Jim Gray’s relationship with Shaq. But Shaq found out about it and he went ballistic.
John Salley: And then Shaq left at the end of that, he wanted to be traded. And they were able to do a deal with Miami and he realized that Kobe was the future of the Lakers.
DV: Yeah, I guess that Gray had reached out to Shaq for a response but he refused and he threatened to kill Kobe.
JS: I tell you, Shaq said it too. Nobody that we know that we worked with was as committed to this game as Kobe. But think about what happened; because it caused a reaction in Shaq we had never seen.
Kobe says that, article doesn’t come out. The next summer, Shaq comes out on September 8th, thin as we’ve ever seen him since he was drafted. And Shaq is in the best shape we’ve ever seen him. But it took that.”
It’s unfortunate that we didn’t get to see them dominate for as long as they could’ve. But, sometimes, these things need to happen for stars to flourish and build a path of their own. At least, they were able to bury the hatchet before it was too late.
