“Similar to Kobe Bryant? Stop it, nobody is even close!”: Shaquille O’Neal rubbishes comparisons to the Black Mamba 

Kobe Bryant cannot be compared to anyone in the league – That is what Shaq thinks.

Every season, fans like to think an emerging star reminds them of someone from the yesteryears, but Shaquille O’Neal does not want anyone to think that way about Kobe. He knew the Black Mamba from the day he was drafted, so any comparisons drawn could be quashed easily.

People call Kobe the carbon copy of Air Jordan, and Shaq agrees to that – to a certain extent. He does not want to be comparing anybody to anyone else. He knows each player is trying to be the first of their kind – be it Kyrie Irving or Jayson Tatum.

The skillset the Mamba brought and the mentality he played each game with was unprecedented – no one in this league currently can match it. Sure players do learn the moves from the legends, but it does not make them the legend itself. the game is so much more than just making shots, and Bryant was a master at it.

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Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant spent 8 years together as a dynamic duo – the big man knows Kobe the best

From 1996 to 2004, Kobe and Shaq were a force no one wanted to reckon with. Sure the Bulls were doing their second three-peat even with them combining, but Kobe was just a scrawny teenager straight out of high school at that time. Sure he had the mentality from the get-go, but the ability had to be honed.

It took Kobe about 4 years to kick into top gear and was going on a three-peat of his own, just like his idol Michael Jordan. It was written in the stars for him – he became an all-star starter in his rookie season despite not being a starter on his team!

The league breathed a huge sigh of relief when the two split – if they continued to bicker, it would have ripped the Lakers organization apart. But if they did not have the beef they did, the championship banners would not be only 17 – they would be so many more hanging from the rafters.

Also Read: “Jerry West was the architect behind Kobe-Shaq’s 3-peat”: The Logo was responsible for changing the landscape of the NBA in 1996