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“No more coming into camp fat and out of shape!”: Kobe Bryant mocked 340-pound Shaquille O’Neal who wanted to be the face of the Lakers

Akash Murty
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“Whoever Wants to Be a Part of History, Throw the Ball to Me!”: Kobe Bryant Wanted to be 'The Guy' After Driving Shaquille O’Neal Out of LA

The Lakers somehow managed to handle two alphas in Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant for 8 years, but the latter end of that period became toxic.

When the Los Angeles Lakers acquired the 7’1 giant, Shaquille O’Neal, from Orlando Magic as a free agent in 1996, they expected immediate success with the group of veterans they had.

As they made The Diesel the highest-paid player in the history of the NBA with a 7-year $120 million contract, the return could only be Larry O’Brien.

“Win now” didn’t mean that building towards the future had to stop. The Lakers were also working on player development as they had brought in an 18-year-old sensation, Kobe Bryant.

Also read: Devin Booker vs Kobe Bryant’s 60-point records showcase why the ‘School of Mamba’ is the way to go

And as fate would have it, the Purple and Gold would not win any championship with O’Neal until Bryant started showing his own greatness. But thankfully that happened early.

If their three-peat didn’t start in 2000 it would’ve never been realized because both of them grew so intolerant of each other that they started throwing jabs at each other in front of the media.

How Kobe started making the Lakers his team despite Shaquille O’Neal leading them to 3 Championships

Ironically, the Lakers got the 13th pick of the famous 96’ Draft in exchange for Vlade Divac just because they wanted to make space for Shaq.

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In return, they got a gem. What a lucky way to get your hands on who’d be arguably the biggest cornerstone of that franchise in the coming future. Isn’t it?

But everything great has another side to it. Is that a saying? Or am I a pessimist? Anyway, as Kobe started getting into his Mamba phase, like his idol MJ, he expected the same out of his other teammates as well, especially Shaq.

Also read: Kobe Bryant, who copied Michael Jordan for 20 years, claims his 4 airballs felt good in Lakers Playoff debut

They reportedly started having little feuds even before they won their first championship in 2000, but it turned ugly after they did the three-peat and O’Neal swept all the three Finals MVPs while getting more out of shape each season, weighing around 340-pound.

Kobe Bryant publicly called out Shaq for his fitness

It broke all the limits after they finished the 2002-03 season outside the top-3 in the West for the first time in 4 years and got knocked out in the second round of the Playoffs after a 3-peat.

There was a regular public quarrel for whose team it was. Kobe didn’t think twice about calling out The Big Aristotle for his fitness in public.

This led to another tumultuous season for the LA-based team, who had also added the future HOFs like Karl Malone and Gary Payton for what looked like their very own version of The Last Dance.

After the 2003-04 season ended with a Conference Finals loss, Shaq reportedly wanted the Lakers to choose between him and Kobe, and they decided to stick with the latter.

Also read: Michael Schumacher has the ‘Mamba Mentality’ trait in common with 5 times NBA Champion Kobe Bryant

And so, we were able to witness O’Neal doing his thing with Dwyane Wade and the Heat in 2006 and Bryant one-upping him a few years later by winning back-to-back chips in 2009 and 10 as well as his own Finals MVPs.

About the author

Akash Murty

Akash Murty

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An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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