When it comes to the greatest one-two punches in the history of the Los Angeles Lakers, and NBA as a whole, the duo of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal will inevitably be mentioned at or near the top of everyone’s list.
The issues that they had off the court may have cut their run short, but the success that they experienced was outstanding nonetheless as the two won three NBA Championships together.
Shaq made an appearance on Oprah’s Master Class and proclaimed himself and Kobe to be the greatest duo in Lakers history, even ahead of the great ‘Showtime’ combo of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
In the appearance Shaq spoke about he and Kobe’s relationship, noting that even though he and Kobe had some problems off the court, they were perfect together on the court. He even compared their relationship to that of John Lennon and Paul McCartney of The Beatles.
Shaq admitted to not even realizing that McCartney and Lennon had issues while in the group, but they are still one of the most iconic groups of all-time. Just as he and Kobe are one of the greatest NBA duos ever.
Another thing Shaq spoke on was how he and Kobe made things worse by only taking shots at each other through the media. Shaq said he and Kobe each had their preferred media members to talk to, but there were never any issues when they saw each other in practice.
Both Shaq and Kobe are two of the greatest Lakers players ever and with Kobe’s jerseys set to join Shaq’s in the Staples Center rafters, they will be immortalized together forever.
Be sure to check out the full episode of Oprah’s Master Class featuring Shaquille O’Neal when it airs on Saturday, September 16 at 10 PM.