"I wasn't the best player on the team" - Shaquille O'Neal admits to being Kobe Bryant's sidekick during Lakers' championship runs
Shaquille O'Neal is only the second player after Michael Jordan, who did it twice, to win the NBA Finals MVP in three straight years. The legendary LA Lakers big man was the central figure, along with the late Kobe Bryant, during LA’s title run from 2000 to 20002. Shaq put on perhaps the most dominating performance in the championship round during that stretch.
O’Neal deservedly won the biggest individual award during that stretch. Still, some detractors pushed the narrative that “The Black Mamba” should have been given the recognition at least once during that run. Fans of opposing teams wanted to continue driving a wedge between the two superstars who didn’t have the most harmonious relationship.
On Saturday, Shaquille O'Neal reacted to the same ploy Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd used for the Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Speaking to the media before Game 2, Kidd emphatically said that it was Brown and not Tatum who was Boston’s best player.
O’Neal had this to say when asked about how those comments could affect the Celtics’ superstar duo:
“When I was young, I worried about useless titles but when I stopped worrying about useless titles, I started winning championships. In my Lakers ones [championships], I wasn’t the best player on the team. I knew it but I knew I was the most dominant."
When he was in LA, Shaquille O'Neal always maintained that he was the man of the franchise. He even told reporters that Karl Malone and Gary Payton came to the Lakers to win a championship with him and not with Bryant. O’Neal and Bryant won three titles together but the team eventually traded Shaq to make “KB24” the franchise cornerstone.
Tatum and Brown swept aside Jason Kidd’s comments in separate interviews. Both promptly understood what the strategy was, having been exposed to the same ploy over the past few years. They will have to double down on their partnership to at least win one Larry O’Brien Trophy.
Shaquille O'Neal sees the Celtics losing the series if Tatum and Brown are worried about ‘useless titles’
Shaquille O'Neal has probably seen everything in basketball after 19 NBA seasons and 13 years as an analyst. He was part of perhaps the most controversial duo in league history. O’Neal has said a handful of times that he could have won several more championships if he and Kobe Bryant stuck together.
O’Neal predicted this if Boston Celtics stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown allow issues to cause friction in their relationship:
“If those two young gentlemen are worried about useless titles, who’s the best in the team, whose team it is, it will definitely affect them. Not only will it affect this game, they will lose the series.”
Boston’s All-Stars refused to let Jason Kidd’s plan work, leading the Boston Celtics to a hard-earned 105-98 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. Shaquille O'Neal saw how they worked together on both ends of the floor to drag the Cs to a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals. The Hall of Hamer might have already seen that both stars aren’t interested in “useless titles.”