Shaquille O’Neal reveals the details of his spat with Kobe Bryant – NBA Update
Recently retired NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal has published a book revealing many incidents that weren’t known in the public domain previously.
In one such incident Shaq recalls a spat with Kobe Bryant which proved to be a vital point in the feud of the two warring teammates.
Excerpts taken from Shaq’s book reveal that during a time of turbulence for both the super stars, i.e. the 2003-2004 NBA season, they confronted each other even after Coach Phil Jackson had directed them to stop the infighting.
It was during the time when O’Neal was striving to secure a new contract with the Lakers, which he wasn’t going to get, and Kobe did him no favours by publicly criticizing O’Neal for being out of shape.
O’Neal, understandably, became very upset at the incident but has now revealed that Bryant was in an equally, if not more, fragile state of mind. The Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard was facing rape allegations in a court that
not only threatened his marriage, but could also land him in jail.
Kobe was more than upset with O’Neal for not having shown him enough support during what was a tough time for the then 3 time NBA World Champion and he let the Diesel know that he felt let down.
“Kobe stands up and goes face-to-face with me and says, "You always said you're my big brother, you'd do anything for me, and then this Colorado thing happens and you never even called me." O’Neal revealed in his book.
Shaq goes on to state that he did call him, but he and Kobe were never really the best of friends. Their time together in Los Angeles was marred by constant bickering and jealousy, which often spilled onto the public domain.
Then Lakers player who later became an assistant coach on the side, Brian Shaw, weighed in on the argument as well. According to O’Neal, Shaw sided with the Lakers centre and told Bryant that he hadn’t been the best colleague over
the past few years. h**l, he had even missed O’Neal’s wedding, so he didn’t have a leg to stand on when he asked for support from the teammates.
“Brian Shaw chimed in with "Kobe, why would you think that? Shaq had all these parties and you never showed up for any of them. We invited you to dinner on the road and you didn't come. Shaq invited you to his wedding and you weren't
there. Then you got married and didn't invite any of us. And now you are in the middle of this problem, this sensitive situation, and now you want all of us to step up for you. We don't even know you."
That NBA season ended in defeat for the Lakers. They lost the NBA Finals to a more cohesive Detroit Pistons side and afterwards Bryant and O’Neal went their separate ways.
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