Shaquille O’Neal, who took $100 million to leave Kobe Bryant, was hit with a cruel roast on his WWE appearance

Shaquille O'Neal, who took $100 million to leave Kobe Bryant, was hit with a cruel roast on his WWE appearance

Shaquille O’Neal was brutally roasted when he made a guest appearance on WWE Raw involving Kobe Bryant, someone who he once beefed with.

The two played together for the Lakers from 1996-2004, and they won three titles together from 2000-2003. They were unstoppable. Shaq was in the prime of his career, dominating at the center position like nobody had ever seen before.

Kobe was an up and coming star, but his potential seemed limitless. While playing with Shaq, he showed he was a true star, averaging well over 20 points per game once he started going in his career.

He was an integral part of the Lakers’ title runs, but he was always considered to be second fiddle behind Shaq at the time. Shaquille O’Neal was the one winning MVPs and Final MVPs, he was clearly top dog. However, that dynamic got a bit messed up in the Lakers last year, and things went downhill.

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Shaquille O’Neal was trolled with a Kobe Bryant roast during his WWE appearance

The Lakers 2003-04 season was clouded by controversy. Kobe had to be away from the team to battle a sexual harassment case in court, and that used to get Shaq angry. He wanted Kobe around more and felt his case was distracting for the team.

On the other hand, Kobe hated Shaq’s lack of a serious work ethic and took trouble with his physical fitness when he showed up to practice. The two reached a breaking point, and the Lakers had to choose between them. They chose Kobe, and the rest is history, of course, but the feud still lived on in memory for a long time. Shaq signed a five-year, $100 million contract with Miami.

It took an interview with the two to calm things down as they talked over everything that went down during those Lakers years, clearing the air.

When Shaq came on to the WWE, the host said he was expecting the most dominant player in NBA history, but he didn’t expect it to be Shaq, but Kobe Bryant instead.

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Post Edited By: Ashish Priyadarshi
Kobe Bryant Los Angeles Lakers NBA Shaquille O'Neal

About the author

Ashish Priyadarshi

Ashish Priyadarshi is The SportsRush's content manager and editor. Ashish freelanced for 1 year in the NFL division before taking on an editorial role in the company. He then tacked on managing content while adding on a writing role in the NBA division. Ashish has been closely following the NFL and NBA since the 2012 season when the Patriots lost the Super Bowl and Derrick Rose was at the height of his powers. Since then, Ashish has focused on honing his knowledge for both leagues in, even writing crossover pieces. In his free time, Ashish is an avid basketball player, he loves to watch movies and TV shows, immersing himself in the cinematic world. Ashish studies computer science and data science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and would love to mesh his love for sports with his technical skills.

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