Kobe Bryant is widely regarded as one of the greatest to ever play basketball, but few consider him the outright best. Gilbert Arenas believes the Mamba could have been the undisputed GOAT, but a media-driven narrative that pushed him and Shaquille O’Neal apart, combined with his desire to be viewed like Michael Jordan, ultimately hurt his career.
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Tracy McGrady caught flak recently for saying that he believed he could’ve won a championship with O’Neal instead of Kobe. However, what drew even more ire was Shaq agreeing with the statement. He added that since he was being triple-teamed all the time, Bryant was often open and simply took advantage.
Arenas is a huge Lakers fan and takes offense when people downplay Kobe’s legacy. So when he heard McGrady and Shaq minimizing Bryant’s impact, he took the time to explain why the partnership is often misremembered. He began by pointing out that the Black Mamba didn’t get the credit he deserved after winning three championships by the age of 22.
“Whatever happened in his first three rings, he wasn’t getting the credit that he deserved, nor that he thought he deserved,” Arenas said on No Chill Gill. The former NBA guard added that Kobe especially took issue with being called a sidekick.
“Hence, why he had a problem being labelled a sidekick- why he did not want to be 1-B,” he continued. Nobody truly wants to be seen as a number two option. Some players naturally fall into roles that suit their team, and things just take shape. But Kobe was different. He grew up idolizing Jordan and wanted a legacy that would be remembered, one where he wasn’t seen as anyone’s second.
After winning 3 rings, Bryant brought up the Jordan discussion. “What the problem was is when he said, ‘Yeah, I got 3 rings, baby. Where’s this Jordan talk?’ Not from the fans, not from the players, from the media- the ones who vote. They were saying, ‘Oo yeah, um, that MJ,”’ Arenas said, acting as though the media wasn’t too hyped about Jordan anymore.
Arenas then pointed out how the media began to fear that, with three rings at such a young age alongside Shaq, Kobe could have been on his way to five championships in five years. That’s when the narrative shifted. The media started acting as if Bryant wasn’t a key reason the Lakers were winning titles.
“So, the narrative was then, ‘Yeah, you’ve been carried by big fella. Yeah, you’re not the driver. You’re more like Robin than you are Batman right now. Jordan- he was driving. You’re kind of in the Scottie Pippen role. We can’t put you in the Jordan talk with your 3 rings.”
It must have felt incredibly unfair to be Kobe at the time. When players like Jordan won rings, the narrative was simple: rings were rings. But when Kobe won them, the focus shifted to how he won.
Why did that matter? Because it clearly started to weigh on him. Bryant genuinely believed people would misremember his legacy when it was all said and done. So he told Shaq directly that he wasn’t going to be remembered as the sidekick. That moment marked the beginning of the split between the two.
“So, after 3 rings, after Shaq said, ‘Hey, you’re Batman. I’m Superman.’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, nah. F*ck all that. I’m Batman, you gotta be Robin… If we’re going to be winning the next 2, I gotta be the lead dog, because they’re not giving me the credit for this,’” Arenas recalled.
Ultimately, Arenas believes this is what ended up hurting Kobe, and it’s hard to argue with that. After all, Bryant was only 22 and already had three rings. Especially coming off the Jordan era, fans probably felt like the Lakers were unbeatable. But they did lose, and when the season didn’t end with a championship, things fell apart between him and Shaq.
All in all, it’s an interesting and eye-opening look at Kobe’s early career. Many forget that during his time with Shaq, he was often disrespected and seen as the sidekick. Arenas wanted to make sure fans remembered the full story and that Kobe later went on to win two more titles without O’Neal, this time as the unquestioned leader of the Lakers.
