“Don’t Remember Shaq Being That Shifty”: Shaquille O’Neal’s Son Unearths Footage of 21 Year Old Kobe Bryant Dueling His Father

Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant were inarguably one of the greatest duos in the history of basketball. They were the one-two punch that no team in the NBA had an answer for. Before their infamous falling out with each other, the two players liked spending time together, often fooling around with each other during practice. Footage of one such occasion was recently shared on Instagram. And much like the rest of the world, Shaq’s son, Shaqir O’Neal, couldn’t help but be shocked at his father’s shiftiness.

As mentioned prior, O’Neal and Bryant initially got along very well. However, it wasn’t long before things started to sour between them. Kobe had legal troubles to tend to, and he ended up indulging into some of Shaq’s secrets too. From there on, the duo were more akin to a failing marriage. They would fight about absolutely everything, including each other’s work ethic. In the end, ‘the Big Diesel’ was traded to Miami by the Lakers’ front office to put an end to the civil war within the organization.

Shaquille O’Neal got shifty against Kobe Bryant in practice

Back in 1999, the Lakers were looking good and feeling even better. They had Phil Jackson at the helm and the talent to go the distance in the playoffs. They believed that they could finally win a championship, the franchise’s first in a long time. But more significantly, their veteran superstar and rising young star were inseparable from each other.

Shaq and Kobe spent every practice session working together, and even some time off the court as well. Simply put, they were pretty loose with each other. And perhaps Bryant got a bit too loose since Shaq had absolutely no problem giving his ankles something to worry about. Take a look at the Instagram post below by ‘Overtime’ to see the action between the two superstars.

“I don’t remember Shaq being that shifty tbh,” the caption of the viral post read.

In the end, Kobe Bryant got the ball off of Shaquille O’Neal. However, if there was one more crossover in there, the Black Mamba could have been in trouble.

In all seriousness, O’Neal’s handles do come as a bit of a surprise. As it turns out, Shaq’s son, Shaqir had no idea about this side of him either, as he shared the post on his Instagram stories. Take a look at tragicpatek’s tweet below.

The fact that Shaq’s handles are coming off as a surprise to his own kids shows that the Lakers legend needed to show off his skills a bit more during his career. Perhaps a few 1v1 games against his children now could be a good place to start.

O’Neal and Bryant had a sit-down interview years later

Shaq and Kobe always had mutual respect for each other. However, for most of their careers, they were too driven by their ego to apologize to each other.

Fortunately, years after both of them had retired, they finally sat down for a televised talk, something that proved to be therapeutic for not only both legends but for everyone watching as well. Watch the entire sit-down in the YouTube video by ‘NBA Stats All Seasons’ below.

After the sit-down, both legends would go on to say they were glad that they did it.