Getty Kobe Bryant and Shaquille ONeal share one of their three straight NBA championships.
Cue Michael Buffer and let’s get ready to rumble. A legendary Lakers feud from the 2000s has renewed life following some disparaging comments from Kobe Bryant about former teammate Shaquille O’Neal and his lackadaisical work ethic.
Bryant, who played with O’Neal in Los Angeles from 1996-2004, was speaking at the PHP Agency Convention in Las Vegas when the topic suddenly turned to the Lakers big man. The Hall-of-Fame duo — two of the greatest NBA players at their respective positions — appeared to have ended their bitter feud in 2016 after O’Neal called Bryant the “greatest Laker ever.” Three years later, in a long-ranging interview with Patrick Bet-David, Bryant seemed to renew the years-old battle.
“He’d be the greatest of all-time,” said Bryant, when asked how good O’Neal would have been if he had Bryant’s work ethic. “He’d be the first to tell you that. This guy was a force like I have never seen. It was crazy. Generally, guys at that size are a little timid. They don’t want to be tall. This dude did not care. He was mean. He was nasty. He was competitive. He was vindictive.”
Innocent enough, actually Bryant was paying O’Neal a great compliment with the above comments. Then, he cut the 7-foot-1 behemoth down to size. (Remember, the pair won three consecutive championships together in Los Angeles).
“I wish he was in the gym,” said Bryant. “I would have had fucking 12 rings.”
Kobe says Shaq would be the 🐐 if he had Kobe’s work ethic.
(via @patrickbetdavid)
Shaquille O’Neal Clapped Back on Social Media
Kobe Bryant’s suggestion that Shaquille O’Neal could have been even greater than he already was by working harder in the gym wasn’t going to fall on deaf ears. Not in the over-reacting world of sports media — and definitely not in the imaginative mind of the man known as the Big Diesel. O’Neal took immediate offense to Bryant’s remarks and used his engaging social media platform to send a stinging retort.
O’Neal dropped some not-so-subtle shade in the comments section of an official Instagram post on @Lakers24Ever by stating: “You don’t get statues by not working hard” and “u woulda had twelve if u passed the ball more especially in the finals against the pistons.” The Pistons beat the Lakers in five games to win the NBA Finals in 2004.
I need this Shaq/Kobe shit talking to lead to another battle rap in 2019.
Kobe Bryant Shuts Down Feud Rumors
While the internet seemed to explode with the news of a new Lakers beef, it may have been all in good fun. The former teammates have been nothing but complimentary toward each other since retirement, borderline nauseating at times. Bryant quickly chimed in on Twitter to extinguish the newest flames.
During the 2017 unveiling for O’Neal’s bronze statue outside Staples Center, Bryant and O’Neal sat on the same stage and heaped praise on one another, with a few jokes about their fabled feud mixed in.
“It means a lot. I definitely couldn’t have done it without him,” said O’Neal at a small ceremony in 2017, via Orange County Register. “We will always go down in history as the most enigmatic, controversial, 1-2 punch ever created. It would be more of a better story if we didn’t win any championships. We won three out of four. That is excellent and something I live with every day. I’m glad it happened the way it did. All it did was push each other to be great.”
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