In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant combined to form one of the greatest duos in NBA history on the Los Angeles Lakers.
As L.A. navigated through life after Magic Johnson, O’Neal and Bryant were next in line to carry on the winning tradition. Due to their respective dominance, opposing teams struggled to contain either star, meaning double or triple teams were impossible. They wound up winning three championships in a row from 2000-02, the late three-peat in the NBA.
An interesting hypothetical was recently presented by Tracy McGrady, who when discussing the concept of ring culture suggested that he could have won titles alongside O’Neal if he were in Bryant’s position on the Lakers.
That naturally brought a lot of backlash, but O’Neal chimed in on the debade and agreed that he would have won plenty next to McGrady, via Off The Record:
“Let me go on the record and say T-Mac was a bad motherfu—er. Yeah, but see, you got to understand, when T-Mac out there by himself, he don’t really have room to operate. Our guy had room to operate because I got three people on me… T-Mac double, triple, quadruple team. Kenny Smith said this all the time: ‘Kobe didn’t get double, triple-teamed a lot. He was free to roam around and do all the stuff.’ So what T-Mac said, I believe to be true because T-Mac was a bad boy… I always told the stories about how I let certain players just go, and with T-Mac and Kobe play, I’m not doubling. Phil Jackson said to double and I’m like nah, f— that. Guard him, Kobe. Guard him… I wanna see it. I’m not showing on the pick-and-roll so he can embarrass me… So what he said was correct… The only way you can differ them is from championships, that’s it. T-Mac was long, [great] one-on-one, can score… But he ain’t really have enough room to operate. So I agree with what T-Mac said. Probably get a lot of flak, but I always say to myself, I could have gotten three in a row with T-Mac. I think I could’ve gotten two with Vince (Carter). I know I would’ve gotten six with Steph (Curry).”
McGrady recently clarified his comments, which were not meant to be a shot at Bryant. But he stood by his take on forming a dominant duo with O’Neal. Despite not winning a title through his 15-year career, the Hall of Famer is underrated due to that aspect and his athleticism being otherworldly.
Despite McGrady not being on the tier of Bryant, he still was a reliable scoring option as he averaged 20 or more points for eight straight seasons. O’Neal is not crazy for believing this hypothetical duo would have panned out as well, but it’s hard to imagine them having the same level of success as Shaq did with Kobe.
Shaquille O’Neal believes Lakers still need to add shooting to roster
The Lakers have been selective about how they upgrade their roster this season. Up to this point, they have relied on buyouts or free agency signings to add quality talent with Marcus Smart and Deandre Ayton notable joining the team at discounted prices.
However, Shaquille O’Neal believes that L.A. still needs to add shooting to further solidify their rotation next year and compete for a championship.
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