The Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant feud is no mystery. Around the start of the 21st century, Bryant and Shaq were the most dominant du. But their off-court animosity eventually led to a complete restructuring of the franchise. When O’Neal retired from the NBA, he reflected on his time with the Lakers and his feud with Kobe in the 2011 book, Shaq Uncut: Tall Tales and Untold Stories. Shaq acknowledged that he was too hard on Kobe. But he claimed he didn’t regret the damage his anger did to their friendship. Instead, O’Neal claimed that losing the friendship did not faze him too much.
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The early 2000s Lakers are probably one of the best teams in the modern era of basketball. But as successful as they were, the beef between Kobe and Shaq trumped all their on-court conquests.
Naturally, when Diesel finally penned down his thoughts about his career, the entire LA saga was a key component. O’Neal attempted to unravel the aftermath of his cold war with Bryant. Although limited by poor foresight, Shaq listed what defined his thought process while dealing with how he may have impacted Kobe’s growth.
Shaquille O’Neal did not regret losing Kobe’s friendship
In his book Shaq Uncut, Shaq confessed that he was a little too harsh in dealing with the young Mamba. He still acknowledged Kobe was always headed for greatness but credited his anger for fueling Kobe Bryant even more.
Thinking about his dogmatic stance and possessiveness over the Lakers, perhaps O’Neal felt a tinge of guilt in his heart. He knew he had wronged Kobe, and judged him by veteran standards even though he was just a kid trying to substantiate his dreams.
However, even that tinge of guilt did not invoke regret in Shaq. At the time of writing Shaq Uncut, he believed losing his former teammate’s friendship was a justified sacrifice for the sake of winning.
O’Neal wrote in his book: “I was probably too hard on Kobe when he was younger and Kobe didn’t know how to take it. He was going to be a great player anyway—we all knew that. I think my anger pushed him a little bit more, and Phil’s anger pushed me a little bit more, and we got three rings out of it. My momma asked me once if I could do it over, would I do it differently? My answer is no. Sometimes I do sit back and say, “Did I lose a friend by the way I treated Kobe?” Maybe, maybe not. We were never really that close. Kobe was always an introverted kid. Anyway, friendships don’t matter much in professional basketball, because it’s all about winning.”
Shaq and Kobe Bryant resolved their issues
In his book, which he wrote after retiring from the NBA, Shaq was set in his ways. He believed his friendship with Bryant was over a long time ago. Fortunately, Shaq was wrong. The two would go on to resolve their differences and embrace as brothers.
Before the January 2020 tragedy, Kobe and Shaq were on wonderful terms. Perhaps the former Lakers superstar feels gratitude in his heart that he found a way to repair the bond between him and his fiery teammate. Otherwise, the tinge of guilt he bared in his book would have turned into a tsunami and drowned him in remorse for life.
