“Kobe Bryant is a Young Guy”: When Ron Harper Convinced 7ft 1″ Shaquille O’Neal to Ease on Ball-Hogging Teammate

Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal were perhaps the greatest duo of all time. The two were unstoppable and dominated the NBA for a good while.

In their eight seasons together in Los Angeles, Shaq and Kobe brought home three NBA Championships. The synergy they had on the court was unmatched.

However, even the best relationships have their fair share of hiccups. In their case, they would always get under each other’s skin, resulting in huge fights. Fights that needed to be mitigated by the likes of Ron Harper.

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Ron Harper had to convince Shaquille O’Neal to go easy on a young Kobe Bryant

Playing on a professional sports team is extremely taxing. Especially when there is a difference in age, personality, and ideologies among teammates. Such was the case with Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant at times.

While the two did have a great partnership, they were also constantly at each others throats. This was due to their differing ideologies. O’Neal revealed in his book Shaq Uncut, that their fights would escalate to such an extent that a veteran like Ron Harper would have to talk both of them down.

“He was old school and I was old school and Harp knew Kobe was new school, so if Kobe and I were having a beef he’d have a conversation with Kobe then he’d come to me. He’d calm us down. He’d tell me, ‘Shaq, meet me halfway on this. Kobe’s a young guy, you’ve got to understand that. And we need him. You know we do. You’re getting under his skin, so lay off a little bit.’ “

Harper was a great influence in the locker room. However, things between Shaq and Kobe were never truly resolved resulting in Diesel being traded in 2004.

Shaquille O’Neal left Kobe and the Lakers when he was traded to the Miami Heat in 2004

In 2004, Shaq was traded to the Miami Heat. It being a contract year for O’Neal, the Lakers had to make a choice between Diesel and the Black Mamba. They chose the latter, sending O’Neal to South Beach, where he won his fourth championship.

All’s well that ends well. Despite their fights, both Shaq and Kobe went on to have very successful careers and even resolved their underlying issues.

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