Kobe Bryant’s Expletive-Ridden Motivation for Shaquille O’Neal Against Tim Duncan Resurfaces

Shaquille O’Neal’s around-the-rim game bothered the best rim protectors in the NBA for a long time. However, the great Tim Duncan was one of the few defenders who could regularly contain Shaq’s rim-rattling attacks. Duncan’s defensive prowess against Shaq was an important storyline in the Spurs-Lakers rivalry in the 2000s. The Spurs forward’s shot-blocking against the big man often irked his Lakers running mate, Kobe Bryant.

One such instance occurred during the tightly-contested Game 4 of the 2002 Western Conference Semi-Finals between the LA Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs. An X user “LegendZ” unearthed the footage of Bryant using expletives to pump up Shaq after Duncan blocked a dunk attempt of the Diesel.

With around three and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Spurs were up by five points. Kobe Bryant initiated a pick-and-roll set piece from the left side of the floor as Shaq rolled to the rim using a slip screen. Bryant was being guarded closely by Antonio Daniels and when he reached around the paint, Tim Duncan slid in for a double-team to close Bryant’s shooting angle.

Kobe then made a sleek pass to Shaq right around the hoop but Duncan magnificently recovered his defensive position to deny Shaq’s dunk attempt. Considering the big man’s destructive dominance in the paint, the Mamba was upset at his lackluster attempt.

Therefore, Kobe used some fiery, expletive-laden words to rekindle Shaq’s competitive fire so that the LA side could get back in the game.

While taking a seat in the bench, Bryant yelled, “Put that b*tch a** *** [Duncan] through the goddamn hole.”

However, Shaq was unable to gain his offensive mojo for the rest of the game. He was held to just one point in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, after Duncan’s block, Kobe nailed two three-pointers and made the game-winning bucket with around 5 seconds left in the game. 

This was an important win as it gave the Lakers a 3-1 lead in a series that they’d go on to win 4-1. However, the final tally doesn’t reflect the fact that four of the five games were decided by a margin of six points or less. So this win changed the course of the series. At any rate, Timmy D surely had Shaq’s number throughout the series.

He held O’Neal to 21.4 points per game on 44.7% shooting, 7 points less than his production in the 2002 playoffs. Apart from that, Duncan put up 29 points per game while massively outrebounding Shaq.

Meanwhile, Bryant stacked 26.2 point per game on 45.5% shooting from the floor proving that O’Neal couldn’t have won the WCSF series without him. This series is a perfect example of why the Diesel needed Kobe as much as the latter needed him to win three championships with the Lakers.