Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant might have had incredible chemistry on the court. However, their feud started growing bigger ever since the two were on the same team since 1996. Kobe would later get entangled under allegations of sexual assault while Shaq would lament about his contract with the Lakers. Their major difference was over being an ‘Alpha Dog’ for the team: the best and the leader of the locker room. On a similar note, Shaq, in his book Shaq Uncut, predicted that Dwyane Wade and LeBron James would soon part ways the same way he and Kobe did.
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Shaq could not get his way with Kobe and the Lakers’ management during his feud. He eventually moved on to Miami Heat, playing with a young Dwyane Wade and winning another championship in 2006. It’s safe to say that Shaq knows a thing or two about superstar pairings, and the dynamics that drive them.
Shaquille O’Neal had predicted a split between LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in his autobiography
Shaquille O’Neal knew how competitive people view each other. Even when two competitive people are on the same team together, they are still in a race to outpace each other. Shaq experienced this with Kobe and said how Wade and LeBron also had a similar kind of tension. In his book Shaq Uncut, he wrote:
“I’ll be interested to see how DWade and LeBron do going forward. It was all about winning in 2011. There was so much pressure on them, they didn’t have time to worry about how many shots each of them were getting, or who was the number one dog, but that could change as they keep going. When it was me and Kobe, I was the Top Dog. Point-blank. No discussion. But, as soon as Kobe got as good as me, I had to go. It wouldn’t have worked any other way. As I mentioned earlier, two alpha dogs means trouble.”
Although indeed there were slight signs of competition between DWade and LeBron, it never escalated to the point of Shaq and Kobe. Wade would often call upon LeBron as one of the greatest players and fondly recollects his time with the King at Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers.
King James and Dwyane Wade have a good relationship unlike Shaq’s prediction
It’s true that both Wade and LeBron were ‘Alpha Dogs’ as Shaq said. Both wanted to be the best in their game and outpace each other. However, the team chemistry and bromance between King James and DWade were like no other.
When LeBron returned to the Cavs in 2014, Wade would soon join his former Heats teammate there in 2017, after spending one season at the Chicago Bulls. The two challenged for another NBA title together in 2018 with the Cavs, which they eventually lost to the Golden State Warriors 4-0.
