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Kobe Bryant Takes Shot At Former Lakers Teammate Shaq

Kobe Bryant Takes Shot At Former Lakers Teammate Shaq

Kobe Bryant Takes Shot At Former Lakers Teammate Shaq

The partnership between Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal is one of the most interesting ones to ever occur in the NBA.

Bryant and O’Neal played together from 1996 to 2004. In that span they led the Los Angeles Lakers to three championships in a row and created one of the most highly-regarded dynasties in the sport’s history.

Unfortunately, due to a lot of off-the-court animosity between Bryant and O’Neal, the pair famously split after a failed fourth championship attempt in 2004.

After their divorce, O’Neal would go on to win one more championship with the Miami Heat and Bryant won two more with the Lakers.

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One of the great “what ifs” in basketball history is what would have happened if the pair had stayed together.

According to a recent interview with Patrick Bet-David at the PHP Agency Convention in Las Vegas, Bryant believes that if O’Neal had stayed in shape more consistently and remained on the Lakers, they would have won 12 championships together.

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Bryant also believes that had this occurred, O’Neal would have likely gone down as the greatest player of all time.

“I wish he was in the gym!” Bryant said. “I would’ve had 12 f*cking rings!”

“He’d be the greatest of all time,” Bryant continued.

The funny thing is, Bryant says he tells O’Neal this all the time.

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“Me and Shaq sit down all the time and I say, ‘Dude if your lazy ass was in shape…'” he laughed.

While it is unlikely that the Lakers could have won 12 championships with Bryant and O’Neal at the helm, it is probably safe to assume they would have won more than the three they ended up with.

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Michael Kyaw

Michael Kyaw, initially a PR Manager, built up a valuable network of connections in the sports world that he then utilized to become an influential sports business reporter. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, Fansided, ESPN and the Wall Street Journal.

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