Between the late ’90s and early 2000s, the Los Angeles Lakers boasted one of the most feared pairings in NBA history. Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant led the team to three straight championships and etched their names into league history. Recently, Shaq looked back on those years and shared a key insight about his relationship with Kobe.
On The Big Podcast, O’Neal was discussing Dwight Howard’s induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. “So me and Dwight finally met up the other day in Orlando,” he began. “He asked me, ‘How come you don’t like me?’ And my response was, ‘What makes you think I don’t like you?’ He says, ‘Because you’re always hard on me.'”
Then the Lakers legend reflected on his dynamic with other NBA stars from the past: “And then I say, ‘You don’t think I was hard on Kobe? You don’t think I was hard on D-Wade (Dwyane Wade)? This is what I do to get my guys to go to that next level.'”
As for the thinking behind that approach, Shaq didn’t hold back. “As a leader, sometimes you have to push your guys. Sometimes they like it, sometimes they don’t. But I know what it takes. I know what I needed. I needed another absolute dog with me,” he said.
Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal during their time together at the Los Angeles Lakers.
Shaq O’Neal talks about his connection with Kobe Bryant
Shaquille O’Neal used that same approach during his years as Bryant’s teammate in Los Angeles. “Every time I pissed Kobe off, you guys know, and you guys saw the product. Once he understood that, I think he really got it,” the former center explained.
see also
Shaquille O’Neal recalls surprising Kobe Bryant story from the 2009 NBA All-Star Game
“I loved just pissing him off—so he would go crazy. I would always tell him, ‘You’re not great.’ And he’d be like, ‘Okay, you’ll see.’ I’d say, ‘You’re not the man—I’m the man. This is my (expletive).’ And it just drove him crazy. He’d come back and say, ‘I’m getting 40 tonight. I don’t know what you’re getting,‘” Shaq recalled about their conversations.
O’Neal’s strategy worked with Kobe
There’s no doubt that if Shaq’s goal was to push Kobe toward peak performance, his plan worked to perfection. The two superstars played together for the Lakers from 1996 to 2004, building a dominant tandem over those eight seasons.
They won three consecutive championships from 2000 to 2002 and made the Finals again in 2004, when they lost to the Detroit Pistons. During that stretch, O’Neal was named league MVP once and Finals MVP three times, underscoring the dominance he displayed at his peak.
However, that success on the court came with its downside. As results piled up, the relationship between Shaq and Kobe deteriorated to the point of no return, eventually leading to O’Neal’s departure for Miami in 2004. Individually, both continued to find success: Bryant went on to win two more championships with the Lakers, while Shaq helped the Heat capture their first NBA title in 2006.
SurveyWho was more important for the Lakers?
Who was more important for the Lakers?
already voted 0 people
