Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant became arguably the most iconic duo the NBA has ever seen at the turn of the millennium, winning three straight championships with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Shaquille O’Neal was a certified superstar by that point, but by the time 2000 rolled around, Kobe Bryant was showing signs of becoming one as well. And Robert Horry, who was on the team for the threepeat, explained how O’Neal dealt with that.
“It was a great thing to watch,” Horry said on All The Smoke. “I think everybody really saw the process when we played Indiana in the Finals and they saw him, Shaq, find out that Kobe could take over. But we saw it all season. We saw it in practice. We saw how he was getting better and better. We saw how hard he worked. And I think the best was that Shaq understood it too.
“There was moments when Shaq would give him the ball… Cuz Shaq would back off and try to get out of his way. He would go to the dunker’s spot, and let Kobe do his thing. That’s how he was able to get that dunk in the Portland series. Cuz he let Kobe do his thing.
“It’s just like anybody when it’s like your team and you got this young buck trying to take over and you still got it. And you like, ‘Hell no, I still got it. This still my city.’ But I think he realized, ‘I need this dude to get what I want. I need everybody on this team to get what I want.'”
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Shaquille O’Neal was very much the main man during those three Lakers’ championships. In three consecutive playoff runs, Shaq averaged 30 points per game to go along with 14.5 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks. He was simply unstoppable in his prime, but having Kobe become a star next to him is what allowed him to secure the threepeat.
Shaquille O’Neal Once Said Kobe Bryant Was Loved As A Laker From Day One
Even though Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant’s relationship deteriorated significantly down the line, the two were destined to succeed. O’Neal revealed that when Bryant joined the team as a rookie, Jerry West told him they would win a lot of championships and that Bryant was always loved as a Laker.
“The first thing Jerry West did when I got there, he sat me down and said ‘look up.’ He said, ‘Son if you can win multiple championships, your name will be up there one day. He said, ‘It ain’t gonna take long. I just signed this kid, you and him are gonna win a lot of championships. He was loved from day one. The fans were going ‘Kobe, Kobe.'”
Shaq and Kobe were a unique duo, there will likely never be anything like them again. They had their differences but they still won a threepeat together. And regardless of how things went down at the time, O’Neal and Bryant patched up later in life and Shaq honors his former teammate’s memory every chance he gets.
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