Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant had their unique history of playing together for eight years in the Lakers. Aside from winning three straight titles, the duo went through a series of ups and downs in their career. At one point, their self-egos and individualism were at an all-time peak to ignite a feud between these once-teammates.
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The duo only resolved their differences 5 years ago when they appeared in a sit-down interview together. However, Shaq now seems to highlight Kobe’s most significant career flaw on his IG story- having the most missed FGs in the history of the NBA.
The Kobe-Shaq feud was at its peak when Shaq realized he wasn’t the center of attention on the team’s roster. On the other hand, Kobe also strived to achieve greatness by being a team leader. Their feud had gotten ugly to the point where Shaq and Kobe almost threw punches at each other during practice. This fight could only be stopped when others intervened and separated the star players.
Shaquille O’Neal highlights Kobe Bryant’s most missed FGs stat on his Instagram story
Shaquille O’Neal often posts Instagram stories highlighting league stats and other highlight events. In one of his latest reshares the Big Diesel re-posted a Zaebucks video highlighting the Top 10 players with the most missed Field Goals.
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The list contains names of some of the greatest players in the league’s history. Players such as Michael Jordan, Vince Carter, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dirk Nowitzki, and LeBron James also find their mention in this list. But the highlight of the clip was Kobe Bryant being numero uno for the most missed shots.
In his 20 seasons long career, the Black Mamba was known for his prolific point-scoring abilities. He is sixth in the FGs made category, with 11,719 shots on-point. But unfortunately, Kobe ranks first on the list of the most missed shots, with 14,481 FGs never making it inside the hoop.
Kobe had a different explanation for his missed shots, which sums up his mentality well. Gotham Chopra, the director of the documentary ‘Kobe Bryant’s Muse’ reiterated Kobe’s words compared to Deron Williams going 0-9 one night. Here is what Chopra said about Kobe, as noted by Uproxx:
“Deron Williams went like 0-for-9. I was like, ‘Can you believe Deron Williams went 0-9?’ Kobe was like, ‘I would go 0-30 before I would go 0-9. 0-9 means you beat yourself, you psyched yourself out of the game, because Deron Williams can get more shots in the game. The only reason is because you’ve just now lost confidence in yourself.’”
Kobe’s goal was to keep pushing harder and trying, even if he cannot make a shot. However, when it comes to winning shots, Kobe Bryant was a maestro in that department. He ranks number two alongside Joe Johnson for having eight game-winning shots in their 20 and 17 seasons, respectively. This ranks him just behind Michael Jordan, who has the record for scoring most game-winners in the history of the NBA.
Kobe and Shaq had a brotherly relationship during their career
Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal shared a brotherly relationship when they were together in the Lakers. Although they mainly were after each other during practice, the Mamba looked up to the Big Diesel as an elder brother he never had. In an interview, Kobe once said:
“He’s my big brother, what can you say, I mean we have grown up here in LA together, we play very well together, we went through a period of time when we struggled to find ourselves but we have and it’s a good rhythm that we have, we enjoy playing together.”
The Mamba’s tragic death in 2020 grieved the entire NBA community. For Shaq, it felt like an unfillable void in his heart. The Diesel said he forever cherishes all the memories and achievements with the Mamba.
