One of the factors that led to Shaquille O’Neal getting traded from the Lakers was his severed relationship with Kobe Bryant. Olden Polynice, a former NBA player, recently gave an interview where he revealed the inside details of an incident that proved that Bryant and O’Neal had problems between them.
Polynice revealed that he took a punch from Shaq that was meant for Kobe during a fight which essentially ended the Lakers’ dynasty run in 2004.
“I basically saved him… from Shaq,” said Polynice on Byron Scott’s podcast.
“My ears still ring till this day.. from me getting hit by that punch that was meant for Kobe… let me go back.. so we’re at Southwest College, playing, I’m trying to get– I’m a Laker fan, I want to be on the Lakers, I got to be around the Lakers. So I’m working, we’re working, I’m guarding Shaq blah blah blah basket [Shaq says] ‘yeah this is my team m****f****’. Basket down there, [Kobe responds] ‘yeah nah this is my team’ It’s going back and forth between the two of them…. there’s like a dead ball they just going back and forth but I’m thinking it’s still part of the crap that we do. ‘Now m*****f**** I kick your’ I’m like ‘Oh shit. Okay are they about to fight?
“So long story short it’s like before you can say hello [Shaq says] ‘yeah I’ll kick you’re a**’ and Shaq goes like this (pulls back for a punch)… I basically push Kobe out the way right because I don’t do the grabbing people, unless it’s an absolute mess. So I push Kobe out the [way], as I’m pushing him out the way the punch is like boom but he hit me… this way over top of my head and pao! I’m like ‘what the hell?’ I’m like damn now I’m getting beat up.”
“And Shaq is basically chasing him. So that’s when I grabbed Shaq after the punch he’s kind of like in front so I just grab him like ‘Come on big fella.’ And I’m like ‘Can somebody help me?’ And I think it was um it was either Corie Blount or Samaki Walker one of them came and grabbed Kobe. Because now I’m holding Shaq i’m like ‘Okay I don’t want Kobe to start getting punches either because then I’m gonna have to let him go.’ Yeah so they grabbed him and all that but I’m like, the whole time I swear to God, my ears ringing like hell, like god damn that’s a big dude.”
Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant are famous for leading the Lakers to their first three-peat and becoming only the second team after the merger to successfully accomplish it. The first team to do that after the merger were Michael Jordan’s Bulls, who did it twice (1991-1993, 1996-1998), followed by the Lakers from 2000-2002.
However, this iconic duo went their separate ways following a series of factors that led to O’Neal being traded to the Heat in 2004. O’Neal went on to win one championship without Bryant (2006), while Kobe won two without Shaq (2009-10).
During their three-peat run, Bryant averaged 25.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game. Meanwhile, O’Neal averaged 28.6 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game and won the Finals MVP in each championship with the Lakers.
