Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant had different personalities, but that didn’t prevent them from winning everything they could and creating one of the most iconic duos in NBA history on the Los Angeles Lakers.
They didn’t get along too well, but that didn’t mean at the time of competing. They won three NBA championships together before things go south and they started beefing, which ultimately ended with O’Neal being traded to the Miami Heat.
Shaq and Kobe were great on the court, but they couldn’t be more different from one another. Even their leadership skills were different, with Kobe having a more aggressive approach, while Shaq was more about motivating people to try again and do better.
Byron Scott recently talked about this, explaining the main differences between Shaq and Kobe’s leadership. In the latest episode of The Ringer’s “Icons Club,” Scott explained how each of them resembled Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson.
“When I compare Kobe and Shaq’s leadership skills, I look at Kobe as like MJ,” Scott said. “Michael Jordan, he was that tough leader, jumping on his teammates, calling them out, cussing them out, beating them up in practice.
“Shaq was like Magic, leadership role, because Magic was the guy who was always encouraging. ‘Come on. You got this.’ He was always uplifting his teammates.”
Their leadership methods match their personalities, as Kobe was always trying to be better and inspire those around him to do the same. He adopted a lot of Michael Jordan’s playstyle and approach to the game, so it’s not a shock that he acted this way towards his teammates.
As for Shaq, he was a more chill guy. He was always in good spirits, but that didn’t mean he didn’t try to destroy rivals on the court. Shaq knew there was a new opportunity waiting if somebody messed up, and constantly tried to motivate everybody.
They were great together and if they had the maturity to settle their differences while still being teammates the Lakers would have collected more titles during the 2000s. We will never know that, but the memories they left us are incredible, and that’s enough.
