Kobe Bryant didn’t know what it was like to play NBA basketball without the most dominant player in the history of the game until 2004. Shaquille O’Neal was signed to the Lakers by Jerry West the very same summer that Bryant was traded from the Hornets to the Lakers as a 17-year-old on draft day in 1996.
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Together, the tandem led the purple and gold to 4 NBA Finals, winning 3 of them from 2000 to 2002. Along the way unfortunately, their own egos got in the way. Both the superstars felt as though they were the ‘Batman’ of the story and not the ‘Robin’ instead of perhaps thinking of themselves as 1A and 1B.
The tension between the two grew past a point of no return when Lakers owner, Jerry Buss, had to step in and tell Shaq that he would be getting traded in the summer of 2004. O’Neal went on to win another title, this time with the Miami Heat, and Kobe won two more titles in LA in 2009 and ’10.
Also read: “I’ve Stolen So Much From Magic Johnson”: Kobe Bryant Once Conceded GOAT Laker Status To Magic
Kobe Bryant described his nightmare involving Shaquille O’Neal
Kobe Bryant went on the ‘Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon’ and was asked about who, while he was playing in the NBA, showed up in his nightmares. Kobe, having been a savant on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor, didn’t really feel as though he saw anybody in his nightmares.
After giving First Team All-Defensive player, Tony Allen, his props, Kobe hilariously stated that the man in his nightmares was none other than Shaquille O’Neal.
“You know who I see in my nightmares? I see Shaquille O’Neal’s lip sync battle with Jimmy. That’s what I see in my nightmares,” said Bryant.
Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal eventually buried the hatchet
Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, while they did have beef with each other on the Lakers, would soon bury the hatchet as time went on. As they grew older and matured, they went on to develop an older brother-younger brother type relationship.
The two even had a face-to-face sit-down interview with each other to address their problems of the past. After Kobe’s passing, Shaq expressed regret over not meeting with him more often.
Also read: Despite Hanging Out $2.5 Billion Worth Celebrities, Shaquille O’Neal Avoided ‘Weirdo’ Kobe Bryant
