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Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant were at the center of the LA Lakers’ incredible three-peat during the early 2000s. The team had the most dominant big man to play in the NBA and a shooting guard who wanted to be the next Michael Jordan.
Many basketball experts believe that if O’Neal and Bryant's relationship had not been as corrosive, they could have won more titles. On “The Big Podcast with Shaq,” the former Lakers center discussed that glorious and tumultuous time in LA.
“All I could say was those were some of the greatest years of my life," O'Neal said. "When you have another guy that’s alpha male, sort of like you, everything doesn’t always go my way, everything doesn’t always go his way. But the main thing that we always did was we always had respect for each other, and that’s why we won three in a row.”
The Hall of Fame center insisted that he has no regrets about how things turned out in his stint with the Lakers:
“I always get asked this question, ‘If you would have to do it all over again, what would you do different?’ Nothing! I keep it the same, nothing. I wouldn’t change nothing, ever! It was beautiful. This story is gonna be talked about. I ain’t played in 15, 20 years, and we’re still talking about it.”
Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant believed they could have won more had Shaq stayed with the LA Lakers. In a previous edition of the “All the Smoke” podcast, O'Neal was convinced they could have won more had he not been traded.
"Seven [championships], 'cause the reason why I got traded, it wasn't about me and Kobe beef. It was that they wanted me to take less money.”
Kobe Bryant, meanwhile, had loftier aspirations than Shaquille O'Neal and blamed his tag team partner for why he didn’t have a dozen NBA titles:
“I wish he was in the gym — I would’ve had 12 f*cking rings!”
The San Antonio Spurs were Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant’s biggest stumbling blocks during their stay with the LA Lakers
David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili were the biggest obstacles for the Shaq and Kobe Lakers.
In 1999, when the San Antonio Spurs won their first franchise title, they swept the Lakers in the second round of the playoffs. They were the last team to beat the Lakers before they won three straight titles.
The Spurs ended the LA Lakers’ hopes of a four-peat in 2003. San Antonio won the title that year. In 2004, the Spurs had the Lakers seemingly on the ropes with a 2-0 lead.
Behind Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, the Lakers kept their composure and succeeded in dismissing the Spurs by winning the next four games. They weren’t so fortunate in the 2004 NBA Finals. They suffered a monumental upset at the hands of the Detroit Pistons.
For five straight years, the winner of the playoff matchup between the San Antonio Spurs and the LA Lakers went on to win the title. Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant were the most dominating duo back then. However, they were also beaten by team-oriented squads like the Spurs and the Pistons.
