Shaquille O’Neal revealed how Kobe Bryant was more uber-competitive than Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan.
The former Los Angeles Lakers’ big man shared his two cents on the question while appearing on an episode of Drink Champs.
“Kobe was a different animal,” Shaq said. “You see Jordan and you see the competitor. But Kobe was a different animal. Like I used to see Kobe dribble and shoot, without no ball for an hour, and then go out there and do the same move.”
He further added, “Me and Kobe had similar attitudes. Like Kobe wanted to be the best, I wanted to just be the best at killing you. Because I was never the guy that’s, ‘Oh he’s the best big man,’ I want to be the most dominant man.”
Despite the friction between the two, Shaq didn’t change his stance on the Black Mamba and the person he was on the court. The latter was always about the hustle, the work, and the mentality that set him apart from the rest of the league. And Shaq knew his teammate of eight years better than anybody else.
The duo won three titles together (2000, 2001, and 2002) with the Lakers. What was more special was that it was a 3-peat that they achieved, becoming one of the legendary duos in the NBA.
Shaquille O’Neal Believed He And Kobe Bryant From The 2002 NBA Finals Were Better Than Michael Jordan And Scottie Pippen From The 1993 Finals
The former Lakers’ center has always been unabashed about his opinions, and earlier, he revealed that he and Kobe from the 2002 NBA Finals were better than Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen from the 1993 NBA Finals.
“Which duo are you taking? You already know my answer,” Shaq wrote in the caption of a picture showing his stats combined with Kobe Bryant in 2002 and the numbers that Jordan and Pippen put up in 1993.
To quickly compare, Shaq and Kobe combined for a solid 63.1 PPG, 18.1 RPG, 9.1 APG, 2.0 SPG, and 3.0 BPG in 2002 to sweep the New Jersey Nets to win their third consecutive NBA title, while MJ and Pippen racked up 62.2 PPG, 17.7 RPG, 14.0 APG, 3.7 SPG and 1.7 BPG against the Phoenix Suns in 1993.
It goes without saying that Kobe and Shaq were one of the more successful and iconic duos in the NBA, and witnessing their greatness together in the early 2000s makes for some golden times in the league.
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