Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant’s time together with the Lakers was as conflicted as it gets. While on one hand, the dynamic duo dominated the court. their off-the-court presence soured every victory. Kobe and Shaq were undeniably the best two-player combo in the league. That is why their petty feud was a lot harder to digest.
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1996 was the fateful year Shaq and Kobe joined the gold and purple ranks. Their addition to the squad turned the clock back to the franchise’s golden era. With Phil Jackson taking up the coaching gig in 1999, the Lakers won three consecutive championships.
Then in 2003-04, O’Neal and Kobe’s hatred for each other reached its boiling point. The gold and purples acquired Karl Malone and Gary Payton that season. However, with the two LA superstars at each others’ throats, the Lakers were on the brink of a collapse. To keep the franchise and its championship dreams alive, Karl Malone went out of his way to resolve the feud plaguing the team.
Karl Malone attempted to negotiate peace between Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant
In 2003, Karl Malone started his final year in the league. The 14-time All-Star had possibly dominated the league but he remained championship-less. In order to win one before his career ended, Malone agreed to the deal with the Lakers.
However, once he was in LA, Malone finally realized how bad things were between the lethal duo of the team. The Utah Jazz legend then took it upon himself to resolve the issues between Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant.
Sports Illustrated’s Howard Beck recalled how Malone played a big role in keeping the franchise together.
Beck: “Karl Malone was hurt. Everybody ignores this part of it. He only played in four of the five games. He averaged 31 minutes in that series. He missed a lot of the regular season because of a freak accident where Scott Williams fell into him and hurt his knee. Malone was the guy holding Shaq and Kobe and holding the team together and keeping Shaq and Kobe from beating the heck out of each other early that season.”
The Lakers lost the 2004 NBA Finals
To be fair, Malone’s attempts to resolve his teammates’ beef worked to a certain extent. Even though they never really stopped lashing out at each other, the gold and purples still managed to reach 4th consecutive NBA Finals.
Malone again had the dream of winning a title within his grasp but the Lakers fumbled the chance. They lost the series to Detroit Pistons 4-1, thus ending Malone’s dreams of wearing his own ring.
