The Los Angeles Lakers created one of the first superteams on paper when they added Gary Payton and Karl Malone to the team that had won three consecutive championships. The additions were meant to take the Lakers to the next level, but they ended up losing in the Finals, and the team collapsed in 2004.
The biggest domino that fell following their loss to the Detroit Pistons in the NBA Finals was the departure of Shaquille O’Neal. Shaq and Kobe Bryant had developed quite a bit of animosity by then, and the two were beefing regularly. Gary Payton explained what the two superstars’ dynamic was like during that season.
“I had heard about all of the tension between Shaq and Kobe. It wasn’t really like that. It was just that you had two brothers — the bigger brother and the little brother, and they were competitors. They wanted something out of the other one. The other one wanted something out of the other one and they were acting like brats. That’s it. That’s all it was. Just acting like brats.”
The question that many have wondered about is if Shaquille O’Neal would have been traded in the offseason if they had won it all to make it their 4th consecutive title. And the big man himself once answered this question.
Shaquille O’Neal Said He Wouldn’t Have Left The Lakers If Not For Karl Malone’s Injury
The Lakers lost the 2004 Finals in 5 games against the Detroit Pistons, with the tensions in the team getting too high. Karl Malone suffered an injury during the series, and they lost 3 straight games after tying it up at 1-1. And Shaquille O’Neal told Bleacher Report that this was what changed everything.
“If I had one wish, I wish we could have gotten those guys a couple years earlier. Karl was older. GP was older. Wish we could have gotten them towards the end of their prime. And you know, I think we would have won that series. And then, if Karl doesn’t get hurt, I’d probably still be a Laker to this day.”
The truth of the matter is that the Lakers only got Payton and Malone because they were chasing a ring in the twilight of their careers. So O’Neal wishing they could have acquired them sooner is wishful at best. And the cracks between him and Bryant wouldn’t have been healed by another championship. But this will always remain a huge ‘what if?’ for Lakers fans.
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