Shaquille O’Neal and his former teammate, Kobe Bryant, didn’t depart on the best of terms after a historic run together with the Los Angeles Lakers. It was years before they ever made up, which Shaq says happened during a crucial moment at the 2009 All-Star weekend.
“As much as I miss Kobe, one of my favorite days was at the All-Star game in Phoenix. It was toward the end of my career. I made it and he kept dropping me off and it felt like the old days,” said O’Neal on the ‘BIG Podcast.’ “At the end when we both got MVP, he gave the trophy to my son, grabbed me, and said ‘Thank you, big fella. You always stayed on my a** and I love you for that.’ That sh*t almost brought tears to me, but the fact that he took the trophy and gave it to little Reef… cause you know Kobe ain’t emotional.”
After years of being apart, Kobe finally made peace with Shaq by offering to split the All-Star MVP trophy. For the first time, Kobe and his former teammate were co-MVPs, and it marked the official end of one of the league’s most influential rivalries.
While Shaquille O’Neal had his issues with conditioning and work ethic, he always gave his maximum effort on the court and never held back from giving his best in every game. He would often prank his teammates in the locker room, but he also pushed them to greatness by hounding them every day.
In Shaq’s mind, bringing the best out of his teammates required a tough-love approach, and it often made him their biggest critic. Kobe Bryant was different from the rest, and he was one of the few players who had both the talent and the will to live up to Shaq’s incredible standards. It was a mutually beneficial relationship that resulted in three straight championships for the Lakers.
Even so, Shaq’s cold treatment of Kobe created a rift between them that caused both players to resent each other. By the time they lost in the 2004 NBA Finals, the relationship between the championship teammates was beyond repair, and a split was inevitable.
That summer, the Lakers chose Bryant by sending Shaquille O’Neal off to Miami to play with Dwyane Wade. Shaq won two championships with the Heat while Kobe began a rebuild with the Lakers that would last for years.
It wasn’t until the 2009 All-Star game that they finally squandered their beef, and Kobe got to thank Shaq for pushing him to greater heights. Kobe realized that O’Neal wasn’t trying to step on his toes, but he was just trying to bring out his best both on and off the court.
Before Bryant passed in 2020, he had made peace with Shaq and even considered him one of his closest friends. What they accomplished together in the early 2000s has not been done since and will be immortalized in NBA history forever.
Today, O’Neal still carries Kobe’s legacy, and he’s doing his best to pass along to modern athletes the same thing he gave Bryant: a spark. While his pessimistic views of modern players are often considered cruel and unnecessary, Shaq only means to inspire greatness from players and give them some extra motivation to compete. A guy like Kobe didn’t need a reason to give maximum effort, but he still learned to appreciate Shaq for pushing him to greater heights.
