“I almost joined the Bulls because Shaq said Penny and I were the same essentially”: When Kobe Bryant told the Lakers legend he nearly requested a trade to the team that Michael Jordan built

Kobe Bryant nearly went through with a trade to the Chicago Bulls after Shaq compared him to his Penny Hardway. 

Kobe Bryant and Shaq spent 8 years together on the Los Angeles Lakers and established themselves as one of the greatest 1-2 punches in the history of the league. That statement however, is the reason as to why the two could never mesh well together. 

‘1-2 punch’ is something neither Shaq nor Kobe were accustomed as both viewed themselves as the number one option on the team. Especially with Bryant progressing into the best offensive guard in the league, the Lakers were stuck between a rock and a hard place when it came to deciding who to keep and who to let walk.

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As any team would, they stuck with the younger player and O’Neal found himself on the Miami Heat at the start of the 2004-05 NBA season. Even with them on separate teams, the two weren’t able to put their differences aside and reconcile until after Kobe Bryant retired from basketball altogether. 

Kobe Bryant nearly went to the Bulls after what Shaq had said. 

Shaq and Kobe Bryant would let their personal differences affect how they operated in the real world as well. Everything from rap disses to squaring up at practices and even taking shots at one another in the media, the two Lakers legends could not seem to get along. 

One such quote from Shaq to the media had gotten Bryant so riled up that he looked to find himself a new home away from Los Angeles. According to the eventual 5x champ, he read in ESPN magazine that Shaq had said him and Penny Hardaway, his former Magic teammate, were essentially the same.

https://youtu.be/YQ2yA_9v-UQ

Also read: “Kobe Bryant took what Michael Jordan was but enhanced the skill-set had a better handle and shot 3s”: Tracy McGrady puts the Black Mamba ahead of His Airness

While Penny was an incredible talent when healthy, he certainly was no Kobe Bryant. This led Bryant to nearly leave the Lakers and find himself on the Chicago Bulls, the former team of his idol, Michael Jordan. 

The ‘Kobe to Chicago’ move was explored a few times with the first time being in 2004 when he actually had a meeting with John Paxson and Jerry Reinsdorf. This of course, didn’t materialize during this free agency of his. 

He would also flirt with the idea of joining the Bulls in 2007 but the trade fell through because, reportedly, the Bulls refused to add Luol Deng to the package.