"You can't blame one guy": Michael Jordan once refused to fault Kobe Bryant for breaking up Lakers dynasty with Shaquille O'Neal
Michael Jordan once shared his two cents on Shaquille O'Neal's shock departure to Miami, and while at it, also added for good measure that it wasn't Kobe Bryant's fault that led his Los Angeles Lakers teammate to head to the East.
Speaking to Marvin R. Shanken, editor and publisher of Cigar Aficionado in 2017, the Chicago Bulls legend believed that the blame could never be on one person. When asked if Bryant would read about the developments in Miami, Jordan had a simple answer:
"I'm pretty sure he does. But you can't blame one guy. It's a combination of both of them. If you've got success in your house, you find a way to manage so that everybody prospers and everybody is viewed as champions. Personalities got involved after they'd had some success. It becomes about individuals — individual goals that they wanted to achieve.
"Be it Kobe leading the league in scoring and carrying the team by himself, or Shaq proving he can win without Kobe. What's the purpose of changing if you've got the right mixture that's working? Give me a 7-footer, and I'd probably still be playing right now."
Jordan's thoughts stem from experience. The '90s were all about players grinding it out irrespective of roster constructions and achieving the common objective, which was winning a championship.
Shaq's final years with the LA Lakers were tumultuous at best. Between his beef with Bryant and the Lakers front office, the 2004 season was the last straw, and the Purple and Gold traded the big man to the Miami Heat for Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, Brian Grant and a future first-round draft choice.
The blockbuster trade marked the end of the famed Kobe-Shaq era when the duo won three NBA championships together.
The former Lakers legend won his final NBA title in 2006, while Kobe Bryant and the Lakers won two more in 2009 and 2010.
For Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, it was about charting their individual legacies
Despite their beef, there was no real reason for Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal to drift other than the fact that they were players who wanted to chart their own legacies.
That they prioritized this over the team's objective of winning more titles was unfortunate, but it was the end result after the Lakers' loss to the Detroit Pistons in the 2004 NBA Finals.
While Kobe Bryant had success, it wasn't until 2009. As for Shaq, his title with the Heat was the last of his decorated career. Had they focused on keeping their winning formula intact, there's little doubt that the duo would have won at least a couple more titles in LA.