Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant were one of the most successful yet contentious partnerships in NBA history. Together, they won three straight NBA championships on the Los Angeles Lakers in the early 2000s, but there was clearly tension between the two.
Both wanted to get theirs offensively and be the alpha dog, but O’Neal was always reluctant to let Bryant rise to the level he was destined to get to. It led to their nasty breakup in 2004. Since then, many have talked about them not in terms of what they accomplished together, but what they could’ve accomplished together in subsequent years had they remained teammates.
Prior to and after their breakup, the two, particularly O’Neal, had harsh words for each other. But in a recent episode of his podcast “The Big Podcast,” O’Neal denied there was ever any feud between him and the Black Mamba.
"The respect has to always be there. We don't see eye-to-eye. But it ain't a feud. It just looks like a feud… When I'm getting doubled, he's the first dude I'm looking for."
Shaq on his relationship with Kobe Bryant 🗣️
(via @bigpodwithshaq)pic.twitter.com/oClP2aR8tl
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 29, 2024
After some time had passed after his breakup with Bryant, O’Neal started to publicly defend the late Lakers legend and sing his praises publicly. It has been a beautiful thing to witness, as it was nearly unimaginable back in 2004, when the two were seemingly at each other’s throats.