The unique journeys of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant have interlinked the two basketball stars forever. Apart from sharing three NBA championships, each of the former Los Angeles Lakers duo was adversely affected by Osgood-Schlatter disease in the early stages. The hurdles during Kobe’s formative years particularly came to the forefront in the book, Three Ring Circus. The author, Jeff Pearlman, shed light on a 12-year-old Bryant as he highlighted the struggles from his developmental phase.
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In July 1991, his father, Joe Bryant enrolled him to compete in Philadelphia’s summertime Sonny Hill Community Involvement League. Having dominated against kids of his age group in Italy, it provided Kobe with a chance to test his ability against the best talents in the city. Joe wanted precisely that as he filled out his son’s application before handing the sheet over to the tween to enter personal information.
Interestingly, this instance made Kobe popular on the first day of the competition as his replies raised the eyebrows of the organizers. The preteen had mentioned the NBA as his career plan, prompting the counselor to ask him, “Are you being serious?”. Bryant displayed an immense level of faith and self-belief as he nodded to confirm his future goals.
Despite the confidence, his performances failed to match his words as he was unable to score a single point in 25 matches. The situation only worsened because of Osgood-Schlatter disease, a condition in growing teens that causes pains in and around the knee due to the stretching of tendons. “I didn’t score a basket, a free throw, nothing,” the basketball icon later recalled reflecting on that phase, before adding, “At the end, I sobbed my eyes out”.
Interstingly, Shaq had to face similar outcomes because of the same cause during his teenage years. His high school coach in Germany used to overlook the center as he once revealed, “He never looked at me, never bothered to learn my name”. “My knees were really bad at that time, and I had one of those brown knee braces with the hole in it on one knee and metal braces on the other because of my Osgood-Schlatter disease. I couldn’t do anything. It hurt too much,” he added.
Thus, one of the most iconic NBA duos of all time suffered from the same fate for several years. It eventually spurred a change within them as it affected their mindset as rising stars. The setbacks highlighted their shortcomings as they worked on them before entering the league. Following the public embarrassment in their younger days, they met at a crucial stage in their career.
How Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal rose together
The duo teamed up in LA in 1996 as the Lakers drafted Kobe and traded for Shaq. Initially, they had their fair share of struggles to adapt, yet they refused to give up on the process. What followed became history as they completed a three-peat in the 2000s, giving rise to arguably the greatest one-two punch in the league’s history.
During that period, they had well overcome their struggles with the Osgood-Schlatter disease. The Diesel became a dominant player in the paint as his dunking capabilities haunted the opposition teams. Bryant also grew past his adversities as he won the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest showcasing no signs of knee pain.
These stories over the years have inspired millions as the iconic figures never stopped chasing their dreams after early complications. Their difficulties motivated them to push forward at full speed as they retired with a total of 9 rings. Two NBA Hall of Famers whose stories remained intertwined forever.
