Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal enjoyed a lot of success when they used to play together for the Los Angeles Lakers. The duo shared the locker room for eight years. During their time together, they won three NBA Championships together.
But many believe that the two players could have won a couple more rings due to the fact they were so good together. Unfortunately, Shaq and Kobe split up in 2004 when the former was traded to the Miami Heat.
Over the years, most have believed that the reason for their breakup was due to clashes in their egos. There were even reports that the two stars used to fight every day, but Shaq denied this report.
Back in 2019, Kobe Bryant also cleared the air about his supposed beef with his former teammate. Kobe claimed that there is no beef with Shaq. Well, that might be true after the two players retired from the league and essentially sorted things out.
However, during their playing days, it was imminent that something was wrong between them. Los Angeles Lakers new head coach Darvin Ham shed some light on the matter.
Ham played against the Lakers in the 2004 NBA Finals and recently claimed that regardless of what Shaq and Kobe said, something seemed off in the 2004 NBA Finals.
"They was beefing. Not on a personal [level] per se. I wasn't there every day with them, but you can see on the court the energy wasn't right… Something just seemed a little bit off."
Darvin Ham on facing the 2004 Shaq-Kobe Lakers
(via @shobasketball)pic.twitter.com/Orgk4VhDFh
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 21, 2022
They was beefing, that’s what I remember. Not on a personal [level] per se. I wasn’t there every day with them, but you can see on the court the energy wasn’t right. … I just remember that team, the energy around that team, in particular being between Shaq and Kobe on the court, it just didn’t seem right. Something just seemed a little bit off.”
As Ham mentioned, he didn’t spend every day with the two superstars. But even when he faced off against the electrifying duo on the court, he could sense the energy was off.
Emmy-winning broadcaster Jim Gray once revealed the origin of the supposed beef between Shaq and Kobe. At one point in time, there must have been something wrong between the duo. But down the line, they certainly sorted things out.
