Shaquille O’Neal brands Kobe Bryant as the greatest Laker ever – NBA Update
Shaquille O’Neal has labelled former teammate Kobe Bryant as the greatest Los Angeles Lakers of all time.
The retired NBA legend said Bryant had accomplished a lot in the game already and in his eyes, it put him above the many great players who have donned the famous golden Lakers jersey.
Shaquille O’Neal won three NBA World Championships playing alongside Bryant with the Lakers from 2000-to-2002. The duo became arguably the most dominating ever witnessed by the NBA, but they weren’t without their problems.
A public feud between the two marred their time at the Lakers and prevented them from gaining some more silverware. It is also believed to have played a part in O’Neal’s departure from Los Angeles, and the feud even continued afterwards.
Still, after all that has transpired between the two in the past, O’Neal is willing to accept the many fabulous achievements of Kobe.
"I would say, based on what he's done, he's probably the greatest Laker of all time now," O'Neal said on KTLA. "If he gets another championship, he'd be tied with Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar], and that would probably really, really put
him up there."
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is regarded as one of the greatest to ever play the game. He is the all-time leading scorer in the NBA and has a total of six NBA World Championships to his name. 5 of them came as a Laker, while one was with
the Milwaukee Bucks. Kobe currently has 5 NBA World Championship rings, meaning if he gets one more he would move past Kareem and Magic Johnson in ring count with Los Angeles.
He is on his way to chasing down Michael Jordan’s points record and has already gone past O’Neal on that department, but at 33, time is also running out for the Black Mamba.
Still, he possesses his legendary determination and work ethic that have made him stand out amongst his own generation. O’Neal once remarked that Kobe was always focused on becoming the greatest Lakers player ever and was confident
of achieving the goal, even when he was just a new comer in the league.
Shaq doesn’t play second fiddle to any one though. He won all 3 Finals MVP awards when playing alongside Bryant and said he doesn’t warrant a comparison with shooting guard. Shaq was a centre, and he thinks he did what he was supposed
to while still playing.
"I'm a big man, so I just did big man stuff," O'Neal said. "I'm just in the 'big man' category."
O’Neal has 4 NBA World Championships, with his last one coming in 2006, when he won the title playing for the Miami Heat. He is widely considered one of the most dominant players ever.
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