Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, one of the most dominant duos, revitalized the Los Angeles Lakers, ushering them back into their 1980s glory days. They clinched 3 consecutive NBA titles, defeating the Indiana Pacers in 2000, the Philadelphia 76ers in 2001, and the New Jersey Nets in 2002. Undoubtedly, anyone familiar with the Lakers recognizes that Kobe and Shaq formed an unconventional pair. Both accustomed to being primary offensive forces on championship squads, the two simply didn’t complement each other well, personality-wise.
This eventually led to Shaq departing from the LA Lakers, where he aspired to secure a championship without the ‘presumed’ help of Kobe. He got his wish when he was traded to the Miami Heat, where he vowed to fans that he would bring a championship to the city. True to his word, he delivered a championship during the 2005-2006 season.
O’Neal engaged in a conversation with Adam Lefkoe during an episode of Big Podcast with Shaq, where he openly confessed to “ring chasing” when he joined the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics in the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 seasons, respectively. He explicitly stated how he felt when it did not go according to plan:
I’m gonna get one before you get one. Because we had the same arguments. You can win but you cannot win without Shaq. You can win but you cannot win without Kobe. The fact that he had two and I have one, I went f**king crazy in my house!
After moving from the Cavs to the Celtics, O’Neal retired on the 1st of June 2011, having last won a championship ring with the Miami Heat. Ultimately, he ended up with fewer rings than Kobe.
Shaquille O’Neal confesses that neither he nor Kobe Bryant anticipated receiving statues.
Before Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant were immortalized with statues outside Crypto.com Arena by the Los Angeles Lakers, the duo never imagined they would earn such recognition. In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, he elaborated on why he and his legendary partner never even discussed the possibility of having statues outside the Lakers’ arena one day.
All that agitation led to Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal winning three titles together (image via Twitter)He said:
No. I didn’t even think I would get one and the reason why was in order to be a Lakers legend, you have to be consistently great. And me and Kob knew we weren’t Lakers great in the beginning. When I came there, I was really good, and he was just good. And then we both eventually became pretty good.
It’s understandable why Shaq and even Kobe once doubted they would receive a statue. Prior to O’Neal’s sculpture, only Jerry West, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor, and Chick Hearn had the honor of being immortalized in bronze.
Was this article helpful?
Thanks for your feedback!
