Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal will always be linked to each other for their efforts in Los Angeles. The former Laker teammates helped create one of the greatest dynasties in NBA history. After that, it led to a feud, a reconciliation, and a friendship that lasted up to Bryant’s unfortunate death in 2020. O’Neal was a three-time Finals MVP Award winner, while Bryant won two on his own later on in the 2000s. No matter who you think is “better,” these players will always go down as some of the best all-time Lakers.
The Kobe vs. Shaq debate is not as high on the pedestal in comparison to Michael Jordan and LeBron James, but it’s one if you are talking about the rankings of Laker players. Both players were stars on championship Lakers teams, and the two players were the cause of the Lakers franchise making a choice between the two. Recently, we had a career comparison between Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, and Kobe won that duel.
After the 2004 NBA Finals, the Lakers kept Bryant and dealt Shaq. The choice ended up being a great choice regardless, as Bryant led the Lakers to the NBA Finals again in 2008, 2009, and 2010. With so many appearances, it’s time to look at the Kobe vs. Shaq Finals comparison further into the NBA Finals.
This is the comparison of Kobe Bryant’s and Shaquille O’Neal’s performances in the NBA Finals.
Points
Kobe Bryant: 25.3 PPG (937 Total Points)
Shaquille O’Neal: 28.8 PPG (865 Total Points)
Bryant owns more points than O’Neal because he has played in more Finals games. Bryant has played in seven NBA Finals, with one series going six games and another series going seven games. Altogether, Bryant has played in 37 games, while O’Neal has played in 30 games. Bryant played in four of those Finals with O’Neal but was the secondary scorer. It was not until the run between 2008 and 2010 that he saw his average increase. That included a 25.7 average in 2008, a 32.4 average in 2009, and a 28.6 average in 2010.
While Bryant has one series with at least 30 points per game, O’Neal owns three, and those all came during the three-peat years. In 2000, O’Neal led the team with 38.0 points. The 38.0 points per game are the fourth highest ever for an NBA Finals, trailing Michael Jordan’s 41.0 (1993), Rick Barry’s 40.8 (1967), and Elgin Baylor’s 40.6 (1962). O’Neal scored 33.0 points in 2001 and then 36.3 points in 2002.
Advantage: Shaquille O’Neal
Rebounds
Kobe Bryant: 5.7 RPG (211 Total Rebounds)
Shaquille O’Neal: 13.1 RPG (393 Total Rebounds)
Given the position, it should be no surprise that Bryant would lose in this category. With that said, Bryant had a few appearances in the Finals that saw him rebound at an above-average rate. Four of the seven appearances featured Bryant averaging more than 5.0 rebounds. That included 5.6 in 2009 and 5.8 in 2002. There were two series that featured a spectacular showing, with 7.8 in 2002 and 8.0 in 2010.
O’Neal averaged double-digit rebounds in all six appearances. In his first showing in 1995, he averaged 12.5 rebounds. That number grew to 16.7 in 2000 with his impressive 38.0 points per game. O‘Neal followed that with 15.8 in 2001 and 12.3 in 2002. In 2004, the number dropped to 10.8, while he capped off the double-double showings in 2006 with 10.2.
Advantage: Shaquille O’Neal
Assists
Kobe Bryant: 5.1 APG (187 Total Assists)
Shaquille O’Neal: 3.4 APG (103 Total Assists)
Bryant might not have been the primary point guard, but the offense flowed through him a lot of the time, even when O’Neal played with him. Given that O’Neal was making a lot of baskets, it’s surprising that his best assists numbers were not when he played with O’Neal. His best average for assists came in 2009, when he averaged 7.4 per game. Bryant had three other series with 5.0 assists per game.
When O’Neal got the ball, he wasn’t going to think of passing it. However, O’Neal averaged 6.3 assists for the Magic in 1995 but also averaged 5.3 turnovers. That series featured one of two times where O’Neal had nine assists in a game. O’Neal averaged 4.8 assists in the 2001 Finals, but most of the time, the number was below 4.0 per game. That included his worst average of 1.6 in the 2004 Finals.
Advantage: Kobe Bryant
Steals
Kobe Bryant: 1.8 SPG (65 Total Steals)
Shaquille O’Neal: 0.5 SPG (16 Total Steals)
The best game for Bryant when it came to steals was five steals against the Celtics in 2008. He had four games with at least four steals and another game with three steals. For the most part, these numbers are pretty tame. The 2008 Finals was the only time he averaged more than 2.0 steals per game, finishing the series with 2.7.
O’Neal’s stats for steals will not impress anyone. He has four games with two steals, and the rest of his steals were made up of one-steal games. O’Neal had one Final where he averaged at least 1.0 steals per game. That came during the 2000 Finals. Other than that, he was lucky to get over 0.5 per game.
Advantage: Kobe Bryant
Blocks
Kobe Bryant: 0.9 BPG (33 Total Blocks)
Shaquille O’Neal: 2.1 (61 Total Blocks)
For a guard to nearly average one block a game is something that most teams would love to have. Bryant was no slouch on defense, but this state was going to belong to O’Neal. Bryant had one game with four blocks, which came during the 2009 Finals. He had two games with three blocks and seven games with two blocks. His average for blocks did top 1.0 three times, hitting 1.4 blocks per game in the 2000, 2001, and 2010 Finals.
O’Neal owned the paint during his time with the Magic and Lakers. O’Neal’s best game in the Finals was in 2001, when he had eight blocks. He had one other game with five blocks, six other games with four blocks, and four other games with three blocks. O’Neal averaged at least 2.0 blocks per game in four of the six appearances, including his best of 2.4 in the 2001 Finals.
Advantage: Shaquille O’Neal
Shooting Percentage
Kobe Bryant: 41.2% FG, 31.4% 3P, 84.8% FT
Shaquille O’Neal: 60.2% FG, 0.0% 3P, 48.4% FT
O’Neal gets the advantage for overall shooting, but Bryant takes at least two of the three shooting clips. Bryant had three games where he shot at least 60% from the field in the Finals and owns five games with 50% shooting from the field. As for three-point shooting, Bryant was going to take this easy because O’Neal never shot from outside. For free-throw shooting, Bryant owns 16 games in the Finals, where he shot 100% from the line, as well as an additional four games where he shot 90%.
In the 2004 Finals, O’Neal shot 81.3% (13 of 16) from the field. O” Neal shot at least 60% from the field 17 times. Four times features shooting at least 70% from the field. Four outside shooting, O’Neal never shot a 3-point field goal. For free throws, O’Neal was a historically bad shooter. He shot over 80% from the line in just two games. He made over 60% in nine games. His poor shooting featured 13 games of shooting 40% or less from the line.
Advantage: Kobe Bryant
Finals Record
Kobe Bryant: 5-2
Shaquille O’Neal: 4-2
When Bryant won his first three championships, many pointed to the play of O’Neal because he won three straight Finals MVP Awards. With that said, Bryant was just as important to those teams. When O’Neal was traded to the Heat, Bryant had to prove he could win without him. Bryant did that by defeating the Magic in 2009 and the Celtics in 2010. The 2010 Finals was an epic seven-game battle that resulted in Bryant leading the team down the stretch in the fourth quarter. The only time Bryant lost without Shaq was in 2008 against the same big three Celtics teams.
For O’Neal, he won a title before Bryant, but he was not the best player on that 2006 Heat team. The Finals MVP Award went to Dwyane Wade, who was a sensational scorer that took over that series against the Mavericks. O’Neal averaged his worst scoring and rebounding numbers in that series. With that said, nobody can discount what he did during the Lakers’ three-peat years, including averaging over 38 points and 16 rebounds for a series.
Advantage: Kobe Bryant
Final Result
Kobe Bryant vs. Shaquille O’Neal 4-3
Who Was The Better Finals Performer: Kobe Bryant Or Shaquille O’Neal?
Before answering this, let the record show that this could go either way. Quite frankly, both players needed each other during their Laker years. Without one or the other, the Lakers would not have won three championships. As you can tell, the stats and Finals records are as close as they can be. In regards to performers, what are you looking at? The better interior scorer and rebounder was O’Neal. The better playmaker and defender was Bryant. The more complete shooter was also Bryant, while O’Neal was a shot-blocking fiend.
Given that this is such a close argument, what it could come down to is that Bryant gets the slight nod for the fifth championship and for the fact that he played in a seven-game series. O’Neal never played in a seven-game series in his six appearances. He reached six games two times in 2000 and 2006. As previously said, the 2006 series featured many great moments led by Wade and not O’Neal. The 2010 Finals featured the Lakers coming back from a 3-2 deficit. Bryant led the team with 26 points in Game 6 and 23 points in Game 7. Both of these players were incredible, but Bryant should get the nod if you look at all of the data.
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