Page 2 - Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal - Inside the NBA's most dynamic/dysfunctional duo's feud

#2 Growing pains

Shaq and Kobe almost came to hard blows in practice

Shaq had a brusque response to the questions about Kobe fitting in, saying, "I'm not gonna be babysitting." The duo were assembled with each thinking himself to be the bigger fish in the pond. The next two years saw Kobe Bryant ride the bench for the most part.

Sport has time and time shown us that merely assembling a star-studded cast isn't enough to guarantee success. The first three seasons of the dynamic duo saw the Lakers bowing out in the playoffs.

In the 1997 playoffs, the Lakers fell to the Utah Jazz in five games. In 1998, the Jazz swept the Lakers behind Kobe Bryant's infamous four air balls. At the time, Shaq had Kobe's back by commending his courage and said that he was the only one with enough guts to shoot the ball.

In the 1999 season, the Lakers were swept by the Spurs in the second round. Reports of internal strife kept making the news in tinsel town, where news is readily manufactured if unavailable. Shaq felt that Kobe was a selfish player and that Jerry West favoured Kobe, as did Kurt Rambis, who coached the Lakers during the 1998-99 season.

He was also reportedly jealous that Kobe's jerseys outsold his.

The 1999-2000 All-Star Game also gave us a transparent look at the tension brewing between Shaq and Kobe. In the All-Star game introductions, Shaq mimicked Kobe's crossover followed by an exaggerated air-ball. He claimed that it was an inside joke, but knowing Kobe's competitive ego, one can guess that he wasn't really laughing.