"Sometimes it got that petty" - Kobe Bryant's former teammate opens up about how beef with Shaquille O'Neal led to using different trainers

Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal won three straight NBA championships for the LA Lakers from 2000 to 2002. They are considered one of the greatest duos the game has ever seen, but they were also known for having a feud on and off the court.

One former teammate and Laker, Brian Shaw, shared that things got so petty that the two would have separate trainers. The Lakers had two trainers under Phil Jackson: the team's longtime athletic trainer, Gary Vitti, and former Chicago Bulls head athletic trainer, Chip Schaefer.

It was petty to the point where Bryant won't get taped by the trainer who taped Shaq before a game. Here's what Shaw said on Byron Scott's "Fast Break" podcast:

"We had two trainers because Gary Vitti, the longtime Lakers trainer, was still there, and when Phil Jackson came, he brought Chip Schaefer from Chicago with him. So, there were times when Kobe would get taped by Vitti, then Shaq would go to Chip. And then if one of them fell out, Kobe wasn't going to get taped by the same guy that Shaq was getting taped by and vice versa. And sometimes it got that petty, you know what I mean?"

Brian Shaw added that it was all fun and nothing serious, just two teammates being competitive against each other. The LA Lakers got the result they wanted with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant.

However, it reached a point where Shaq wanted out, and the Lakers wanted to build around Bryant. They traded O'Neal to the Miami Heat in 2004, helping win the franchise's first championship two years later.

As for Bryant and the Lakers, they had some tough years before the acquisition of Pau Gasol in 2008. They went to three straight NBA Finals from 2008 to 2010, winning two championships in 2009 and 2010.

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Brian Shaw picks Shaquille O'Neal, snubs Kobe Bryant in his all-time starting 5

Brian Shaw picks Shaquille O'Neal, snubs Kobe Bryant in his all-time starting 5. (Photo: IMAGN)

In the same appearance on Byron Scott's podcast, Brian Shaw was asked to name his all-time starting five. Shaw picked Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal. He debated picking Duncan over Kevin McHale and Bill Russell.

While Shaq was picked, Kobe Bryant wasn't since Shaw went with the traditional route of not putting someone out of position, and he didn't put his former teammate over MJ. Nevertheless, it was a personal starting five, and his picks weren't bad at all.