Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant were the best of friends at the best of times. Shaq has even honored his friend with a burger in his name.
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Shaq and Kobe, as you might already, are the greatest 1-2 punch in NBA history. Some people would bring up Magic and Kareem, LeBron and D-Wade or MJ and Pippen in this conversation. They’re lying to themselves.
Shaq and Kobe played with each other when they were at their most dominant phases of their careers, physique-wise. O’Neal’s mere presence in the league forced teams to draft a big man in the draft every one.
The hope was that each team would have enough big men in their roster to keep one on the floor with Shaq. After all, they’d need to foul him relentlessly to give themselves a chance in most games.
Kobe and Shaq had a spat that led to the latter getting traded to the Miami Heat in 2004. But they made up with each other before long, and Shaq has always given Frobe his flowers since then.
Shaq reveals that the Kobe burger is more expensive than his at Shaquille’s
Shaquille O’Neal has such affection for the Black Mamba that he’s even got a Kobe burger on his menu. This is what he said to Jimmy Kimmel before the opening of Shaquille’s – his restaurant at LA Live:
“Well I’ve been in the restaurant business for a while, I own 5 restaurants in Vegas. Hexx, Alexxa, Beer Park. I opened up something called Big Chicken. But I’ve always wanted to something here in LA.”
“A spot opened up at LA Live and it’s always busy down there. And next year I’m going to have a great year with the Clippers and the Lakers going at it!”
There then followed a quick exchange between the glib Jimmy Kimmel and the self-assured Shaq. It was great banter all around and Shaq was able to take it well
Jimmy Kimmel: On the menu, you have the Shaq burger and the Kobe burger. Which one is better?
Shaquille O’Neal: Shaq burger!
Jimmy Kimmel: Does the Kobe burger come with more onion rings?
Shaquille O’Neal: That’s a good one, that’s a good one. Yes, one more.
Jimmy Kimmel: So you got the Kobe beef for his burger or the burger that’s named after him. Or was he named after the burger, I think? And then the regular grade beef is named after you. Which one is more expensive?
Shaquille O’Neal: I think the Kobe burger!