5 Kobe Bryant teammates who had beef with him

Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest players the game has ever seen, winning five NBA championships, two NBA Finals MVPs and one NBA MVP. Bryant also won two Olympic gold medals in 2008 and 2012 before retiring in 2016, scoring 60 points in his final game.

Bryant is known for having a "Mamba mentality" that separated him from his peers during his playing career. It also caused problems with some of his teammates because of how competitive and motivated he was.

Let's look at the five teammates of the LA Lakers legend who had beef with him.

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5 Kobe Bryant teammates who had beef with him

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Shaquille O'Neal

Shaquille O'Neal vs. Kobe Bryant. (Photo: GETTY)

Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant are one of the greatest duos in NBA history. They won three straight championships together from 2000 to 2002 and went to the NBA Finals again in 2004. However, they also feuded for a while before reconciling after Bryant's career ended.

Despite having great chemistry on the court, Shaq and Kobe's personalities could have not been more different. They often clashed during practices and things even turned violent. It motivated both guys to lead the LA Lakers to a three-peat, but the feud ended their partnership in 2004.

The Lakers chose Bryant by signing him to a new contract, while Shaq was traded to the Miami Heat. "Superman" would win a title in South Beach before Kobe won two more in 2009 and 2010 with Pau Gasol. He even bragged about it by saying that he "just got one more than Shaq."

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Smush Parker

Smush Parker vs. Kobe Bryant. (Photo: GETTY)

For two seasons from 2005 to 2007, Kobe Bryant's primary point guard with the LA Lakers was Smush Parker. They went to the playoffs twice but lost in the first round both years. Not many people knew it at that time, but the two had a personal beef that only went public after Bryant's comments about his former teammate surfaced.

"Smush Parker was the worst. He shouldn't have been in the NBA, but we were too cheap to pay for a point guard. We let him walk on," Bryant said back in 2012.

Parker has since confirmed that he never really talked to Bryant outside the court and never had a personal relationship with him despite being teammates for two years. But when Bryant died in 2020, the former LA Lakers guard admitted that he regretted not burying the hatchet with his ex-teammate.

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Kwame Brown

Kwame Brown vs. Kobe Bryant (Photo: GETTY)

Kobe Bryant's feud with Kwame Brown was not because of any issues off the court. It was all about Brown's basketball ability that got him in the crosshairs of the "Black Mamba" just like his mentor Michael Jordan. The Chicago Bulls legend famously selected Brown first overall in 2001 when he was an executive for the Washington Wizards.

The LA Lakers acquired Brown from the Wizards in 2005 and played alongside Bryant for two and a half years. Bryant told the Washington Post in 2011 that the former No. 1 pick infuriated him in his final game as a Laker in 2008.

"I said, 'You're going to be open again, Kwame, because Rasheed (Wallace) is just totally ignoring you.' He said, 'Well, if I'm open don't throw it to me.' I was like, 'Huh?' He said, 'Don’t throw it to me.' I said, 'Why not?' He said, 'Well, I'm nervous. If I catch it and they foul me, I won't make the free throws,'" Bryant said.

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Dwight Howard

Dwight Howard vs. Kobe Bryant (Photo: IMAGN)

Dwight Howard was part of the abysmal 2012-13 LA Lakers team that had a lot of hype but failed to make any noise in the playoffs, particularly due to Kobe Bryant tearing his Achilles tendon late in the season. Howard and Bryant didn't have a great relationship as teammates.

Howard had the same personality as Shaquille O'Neal, who still had a feud with Bryant at the time. The five-time NBA champion was not having any of Dwight's shenanigans and it showed how bad the team's chemistry was on the court during their lone season together.

"I know that I approached that season wanting to be the best version of myself and also the man. You know, I'm young, I just felt like that at the time. It was really hard for me and Kobe to really communicate. I think we were just at two different mental stages," Howard said about his time with Kobe. [H/T Sports Illustrated]

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Samaki Walker

Kobe Bryant and Samaki Walker were part of the same draft class in 1996. They became teammates in 2001 and played together for two seasons. They won a championship together in 2002 and had a small dustup due to a $100 bet in practice.

According to Walker (H/T Bleacher Report), Bryant sucker punched him after he didn't immediately pay the $100 he owed the young star back then. He had to be restrained by Shaquille O'Neal at the time and Bryant has apologized for his actions.

Walker kept in touch with Kobe after his playing career was over and the Lakers legend provided him with memorabilia for his charity. He doesn't have any ill-will toward his former teammate and even gained respect for him despite what happened.