Shaquille O’Neal is a Laker legend, who helped lead the franchise to three NBA Championships. While he did find success in LA, his stint was not without its issues. Tensions were always high between Shaq and his “co-star” on the Lakers, Kobe Bryant. Things were so bad, that Jerry West referred to said tension as “professional jealousy”. A statement that O’Neal refuted, citing Michael Jordan.
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In 1994, Shaq played a role in the movie Blue Chips, making him the first NBA superstar to step into the Hollywood spotlight. He essentially beat Jordan to the punch, who came out with Space Jam two years later.
Although the movie suffered a $9 million loss, it is this along with a long list of other achievements he has to refute West’s claims in his book Shaq Talks Back. Adamantly claiming he had nothing to be jealous about.
Shaquille O’Neal name-dropped Michael Jordan in an attempt to refute claims that he was jealous of Kobe Bryant
From 1996 to 2004, the Los Angeles Lakers were Shaquille O’Neal’s team. He was a dominant force that led the team to great success. But, the grass was not always green in LA. To be precise, Shaq had problems with one of his teammates, Kobe Bryant.
The Black Mamba was the Robin to Shaq’s Batman, but he was slowly being groomed by the Lakers organization to take over. This led to plenty of reports suggesting that there was a rivalry both on and off the court between the two legends. An overexaggerated narrative spun by the media in Shaq’s opinion.
However, it was a hot topic and some high-profile names were commenting on it. In particular, Jerry West, Laker legend and former GM, suggested that there was a “professional jealousy” between the two. This didn’t sit well with Big Diesel, and as he explains in his book, he had nothing to be jealous about. After all, he had beaten the great Michael Jordan to a movie deal.
“Jerry West even said in the paper once that there was “sort of a professional jealousy” involved. That pissed me off. What was there to be jealous over? I already had my soda deal. I was the first one to get a movie deal in the new era, even before Jordan. I was the first to get my own shoe in the new era, the first to do music.”
When might say it is a petulant retort, but a retort nonetheless. But, for all his adamance that he was not jealous of Kobe, things didn’t exactly end well between the two in LA.
Shaq and Kobe’s feud led to the former parting ways with LA in 2004
The end of the Shaq and Kobe era in LA was a messy one. Both of them were done with each other and the animosity between the two was toxic. O’Neal was insistent that the Lakers were his team but with his contract still in dispute and the franchise looking more and more like they were preparing for Bryant to become their new face, things weren’t looking good.
Things ultimately came to an end after Shaq made it clear that he be paid or he would leave in free agency. The Lakers chose to trade him to Miami, ending a dynasty.
They could have gone on to win much more if they had just sorted out their differences. But, what’s done is done and they both went on to find success and eventually made up years later.
