Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant were two of the most dominant players to date, but were unable to overcome personal differences and played only eight seasons for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Michael Jordan and Scotty Pippen are the best duo to share courtrooms in the NBA, but Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, who won three titles in eight years with the Los Angeles Lakers, are definitely there.
Shaq and Kobe created 13 shared All-Star teams and 14 All-NBA teams while running together. But their bitterness, sometimes even lighter empty, ultimately led to their dynasty being short-lived.
On July 14, 2004, O’Neill was traded for the Miami Heat, and the Lakers committed to Bryant.
O’Neill signed a free agent contract in the summer of 1996, spurring Orlando’s magic and headed to Hollywood to play with the Lakers. He worked with rookie Kobe Bryant, but it took him four years to compete in their first final.
He won the championships in 2000, 2001 and 2002 before falling for the San Antonio Spurs in the 2003 playoffs. They returned to the final in 2004, with Gary Payton and Carl Malone also appearing on the team, but they lost to the underdog Detroit Pistons.
At their peak, O’Neill was undoubtedly the most dominant and only force in NBA history, with Bryant becoming himself as a perennial MVP candidate and all-NBA guard. On paper, the two could have won more rings.
“I would have had the _____12 ring,” Bryant claimed that Shack had the same work ethic.
The drive that made Kobe so big was eventually forced to be a wedge between the two legends, and O’Neill was eventually traded by the Lakers.
O’Neill wanted to be a media star. Bryant just wanted to play basketball. O’Neill is the more advanced of the two and didn’t want to wait for Kobe to develop as a player during the first few seasons. In response, Kobe stopped giving Shaq (or someone else) to the ball.
Sometimes they both threatened to demand a deal, and although the two became physical in 1998, they quickly put the episode behind them.
Neither attended the other’s wedding, they never dined together and were not seen together in public. In short, they didn’t like each other.
After their performance, they continued to bury hatch, but as teammates, they were unable to make it work, and after losing the final in 2004, O’Neill demanded the trade granted on July 14th, and Bryant signed a massive contract the following day.
Kobe and Shack both enjoyed the best years of their careers together, but they both found success after the transaction.
Shaq was 32 years old and was beaten after years of physical play, but he won the Heat in the 2005 Finals, creating a four more All-Star team without KOBE, adding to the four he made before playing for the Lakers.
Bryant found his favorite teammate at Pogersol, and the two continued to win two rings. Bryant won the MVP in 2008 and scored 81 points in 2006.
Gasol was not as great as Shaq, but he understood Kobe more and had a bit of his own “mamba thinking” and was able to overcome the physical flaws that kept him from dominating.
For eight years, the Lakers fought the two biggest personalities in NBA history, but ultimately couldn’t put aside the differences, but it’s been 21 years since the NBA saw a duo that was as dominant as the two shared courts.