Kobe Bryant was the face of the Lakers for the final 12 years of his career. However, for his first eight, he was Shaquille O’Neal’s sidekick. It didn’t bother him until the early 2000s. After their second championship win, he started feeling he should be the team’s first option and the center should take a backseat. But the four-time NBA champion wasn’t keen on giving up the keys to the castle. The power struggle led to some selfish play on the guard’s part, which many frowned upon. But not Brendan Haywood.
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He was glad that Bryant had an unfettering desire to be the Lakers’ main man. On Theo Pinson’s Run Your Race Podcast, the retired center claimed he always hoped the guard would take over the game and not pass the ball to O’Neal and force him to try to stop the Lakers icon. Haywood said,
“[Shaq] is bigger than you. He’s stronger than you, and he’s faster than you. It’s like wow, he is everything I saw on TV. I really hope Kobe goes for 40 because I don’t want this guy getting the ball at all.”
The Lakers’ triangle offense forced defenses to pick their poison. On any given night, either the center or the guard could take over a game regardless of the opposing team’s schematics.
While Haywood did get some respite in some games, other times he faced the full brunt of O’Neal’s punishing physicality. And the experience was as terrible as advertised.
Haywood experienced the impact of Shaq’s physically
O’Neal had little to no regard for his opponents’ well-being. They tried to elbow him, push him, shove him, double-team him. But nothing worked. When he was in the paint, he was practically unstoppable. And the Lakers icon ensured he doled out the same punishment he was subjected to. Haywood learned this hard way. He said,
“[Shaq] would just go through your chest. He hit me in my sternum one time. Bruised my sternum. I couldn’t laugh for a week.”
If having their egos bruised wasn’t enough, the four-time NBA champion left some of his opponents with actual battle scars. It was unpleasant and humbling enough to try arduously and fail at stopping O’Neal from imposing his will. But taking an elbow and getting dunked on was even more frustrating and painful.
