"Wasn't gonna outdo him": Brian Shaw opens up on Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant's abrasive equation caused by 'big fella's' persona
The stories of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant are endless. Their drama was well documented, and the tales are part of NBA lore. Brian Shaw got a front-row seat to the battles between the superstars when he played for the LA Lakers. He recently went on Paul George’s podcast and recounted some of the times the two stars butted heads in LA.
Shaw played with O’Neal in Orlando with the Magic before the two reunited in LA. He knew how players would allow O’Neal to take the spotlight.
“Now everyone, except for Kobe, who played with Shaq was always going to defer to him. It’s your team, you the big fella. He was going to have the biggest house, the most cars, you were not going to outdo him in any area. We fed in on that and Kobe wasn’t having that,” Shaw said.
The two Lakers legends were always going back and forth on who was the top dog of the team. They were even perturbed when one was advertised over the other.
“There was a closeness between them when it got between the lines. But there was competitiveness too. As petty as it sounds, if the games were on national TV and they said it’s Shaq and the Lakers vs Allen Iverson and the Sixers then Kobe would get mad. Or if they said Kobe and the Lakers then (Shaq) would get mad,” Shaw said.
What started Kobe and Shaq’s beef?
The initial tension would begin before the season. No one matched Bryant’s legendary work ethic. The late great NBA legend would never take days off and worked just as hard in the offseason to perfect his craft. O’Neal was not of the same mindset that created rocky starts to seasons in LA.
“Shaq would come in out of shape and Kobe would be like, 'I worked my ass off and your fat ass is going to come into training camp out of shape and overweight'? That is where it would start. But once the games started and we got between the lines, they would handle their business,” Shaw said.
The two worked out their differences enough to lead one of the great dynastic runs in NBA history. They were able to put their differences aside enough to win three straight NBA championships from 2000-02.
O’Neal won Finals MVP in all three seasons. Something that ate at Bryant. The two split when O’Neal left in 2004 for the Miami Heat. He would go on to win a title in South Beach with Dwyane Wade in 2006.
Not to be outdone, Bryant went on to win back-to-back titles with the Lakers in 2009 and 2010. Bryant was named Finals MVP both times.