Shaquille O’Neal played in the NBA for 19 years and had quite decent records. He won four championships and was one of the finest players of his time. He often gets compared to the players like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. He was also involved in many controversies during his playing days. He had fights with Kobe when they were playing for Los Angeles Lakers together. He also got involved in fights with coaches, and other teammates and made headlines multiple times for his controversies.
Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant’s relationship
Shaquille O’Neal joined the Los Angeles Lakers in 1996; at that time, Kobe Bryant was an emerging star playing for Lakers. Shaq joining the Lakers created a lot of hope among the fans, and he didn’t disappoint too. The Lakers did win the championship after adding Shaq, but there was one more thing that created a lot of buzz, and that was the tension between Shaq and Kobe.
The two shared a good bond in court, but the rift between them came out in public a couple of times. The tension between them went so far that once it was about to turn into a physical fight during a pickup game, but it didn’t. The two performed well together and were phenomenal at their time, but the feud between them became the highlight of their career. By the end of the career, the two had resolved their issues and were on good terms.
Kobe and Shaq talking about their first physical fight 👀🤣🙏 pic.twitter.com/exVz3Z0Br5
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) October 8, 2022
According to some sources, it came out in public that coach Phil Jackson was the one who intensified the rift between the two stars. While Phil blamed Shaq and said his poor work ethic and clownish behavior was the main reason behind the rift. In an interview, Robert Horry said:
I think Phil Jackson started that feud. It happened many times that after team practice, he would say, “Kobe said this about Shaq, and Shaq said that about Kobe.”… We couldn’t believe how could that happen, because just the day before we saw them together, jumping on one another. Phil liked it when there was a conflict of some sort.
Shaquille O’Neal and Phil’s relationship
In 2004, Shaquille O’Neal was traded to the Miami Heat but his relationship with his former coach Phil Jackson was not that good. Phil at that time released a book “The Last Season: A Team in Search of Its Soul” where he criticized Shaq. Shaq being Shaq, didn’t hold back and replied to Phil publicly. This remained a topic of discussion among NBA fans for a long time.
Shaq and Kobe’s failure in the 2004 final
In 2003-04, the Lakers had both the star Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe but still, they couldn’t manage to win the finals. Despite having a strong lineup, the Lakers had to face an embarrassing loss to the Detroit Pistons in the final. They were unable to play as a unit. Shaq said in a conversation that it was informed to him that if they lost the 2004 finals then Laker would trade him and it did happen after the embarrassing loss.
