Before Shaquille O’Neal was traded to the Miami Heat in 2004, Kobe Bryant and the veteran center didn’t really see eye-to-eye in Los Angeles. The two were part of one of the most dynamic duos in NBA history and won three straight titles while playing alongside one another, but the relationship on and off the court simply couldn’t last.
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One of the main reasons the relationship between the two didn’t work out was Kobe being unable to cope with Shaq’s lack of work ethic. Kobe states that clearly in an interview with Ben McGrath of The New Yorker via Lakers Nation reporter Serena Winters:
Kobe on Shaq in the @NewYorker: “It used to drive me crazy that he was so lazy.”
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) March 24, 2014
Kobe went on to say that Shaq basically took the easy way out and described how players should conduct themselves in terms of work ethic via Winters:
More Kobe on Shaq: “You got to have the responsibility of working every single day. You can’t skate through sh–.”
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) March 24, 2014
Despite an early end to a championship run that could’ve lasted much longer, Kobe and Shaq have been civil over the last few years. The bitterness and “Kobe-Shaq feud” appears to be over with both men moving on.
It’ll be interesting to see if Shaq responds to the comments made by Kobe. Even Phil Jackson has talked about the Kobe-Shaq relationship over the past few years basically saying a lot of the same things.
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