Shaq-Kobe feud

The "Shaq-Kobe feud" was the "bitter rivalry" between Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, who played together on the National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Lakers team from 1996 to 2004.

1996 - 2002

In 1996, the Los Angeles Lakers signed free agent center and NBA star Shaquille O'Neal. That same year, they acquired the draft rights to up-and-coming high school phenomenon Kobe Bryant from the then-Charlotte Hornets for Vlade Divac. The blockbuster duo attracted much attention from the national media, O'Neal because of his established fame, and Bryant because of his youth and talent. The first three seasons that the pair played together were tumultuous and disappointing, with the Lakers suffering playoff defeats to the Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs.

Arguably, the team's greatest disappointment of this period came in the 1998-99 season, which included a brief stint by Dennis Rodman as a Laker and the firing of a head coach (Del Harris). That season, the Lakers defeated the talented but age-weary Houston Rockets in the first round of the NBA Playoffs before being swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the second round. The sweep was especially disappointing because the losses in Games 3 and 4 of the series were the final NBA playoffs games played at the Lakers' home, the legendary Great Western Forum. The Lakers would play two final pre-season games at the Forum later that year, including a loss against the Miami Heat.

In response, Lakers owner Jerry Buss hired six-time NBA champion (now nine time NBA champion) Phil Jackson, former coach of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls as the team's head coach entering the 1999-2000 season. The results of the hiring were stark, as the Lakers cruised to a 67-15 record behind Shaq's first MVP season (second scoring title) and Kobe's first season as an all-nba performer and 20 point per game scorer (it is one of the best records in league history). During the playoffs, the Lakers fought off the eighth-seeded Sacramento Kings in five games and then defeated the upstart Phoenix Suns in the second round, four games to one.

It was in the 2000 Western Conference Finals that the defining moment of O'Neal's and Bryant's on-court success together occurred. The Lakers had led the Portland Trail Blazers three games to one before dropping Game 5 at home and Game 6 in Portland. The Blazers were leading the decisive Game 7, putting the Lakers on the brink of elimination. Portland led by 15 points late in the third quarter before the Lakers mounted a furious rally to take the lead. The comeback run culminated in an alley oop pass from Bryant to O'Neal for a slam dunk, and the Lakers went on to win not only that game, but the Finals as well.

In 2001, the Lakers won the title again; however, O'Neal and Bryant began feuding during the season as Bryant expanded his game to an elite level making all-NBA 1st team for the first time but the Lakers chemistry suffered a bit and roles weren't defined. Toward the end of the season, they attempted to put their feud behind them, fighting up the standings and finishing with a top record in the tough Western Conference, with O'Neal referring to Bryant as " [his] idol" and "the best player in the league, by far" following a victory in Game 1 of that year's Western Conference Finals. The Lakers went on to win the championship for a 2nd year in a row in 2000-01 and Shaquille O'Neal won his 2nd consecutive NBA Finals Most Valuable Player award. In the 2001-02 season, O'Neal publicly campaigned for Bryant to win the NBA Most Valuable Player Award. Though Bryant did not win the award, he did finish 5th in the MVP voting (Shaq finished 3rd) and O'Neal's comments seemed at the time to be yet another sign that the two had put their bitterness behind them, and the Lakers went on to claim their third straight title that season with Shaquille winning a 3rd straight NBA Finals MVP.

2003 - Present

The 2002-2003 NBA season began with the three-time defending champion getting off to one of their worst starts ever. The team was several games under .500 at 11-19, and many wondered if they would even make the playoffs. Shaquille O'Neal was sidelined with a toe injury. O'Neal could have had surgery on his toe early in the summer (which would have allowed him to return to playing sooner), but he decided to wait and have the surgery performed not long before the Lakers' pre-season training camp began. He said, "I got hurt on company time, so I’ll heal on company time." The Lakers ended that season with the 5th seed in the Western Conference, failing to get home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. They defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves in six games, but were eliminated by eventual champion San Antonio Spurs in the conference semifinals. The disappointing defeat was followed that summer by accusations and then charges of rape by Bryant in Colorado.

This disastrous turn for the Los Angeles Lakers was just the beginning of a stressful season. Just prior to Bryant's rape charge, the Lakers signed veterans Karl Malone and Gary Payton. It was a virtual consensus among NBA analysts that the Lakers were now the overwhelming favorites to win another NBA title, with many touting the team's chances to win over 70 games during the regular season. However, even with these additions and seeming to have every reason to feel confident about reclaiming the NBA championship, the Lakers would not be able to avoid controversy.

Just prior to the start of the 2003-2004 season, O'Neal and Bryant began feuding once more. The opening salvo, at least publicly, came from O'Neal at the start of the Lakers' pre-season training camp. With Bryant absent from camp due to his legal situation and his recovery from knee surgery, O'Neal answered questions about the Lakers' not having their whole team together yet in camp by pointedly insisting that the whole team "was" in fact there. Though never mentioning Bryant by name, O'Neal's comments seemed clearly intended to belittle Bryant's importance to the team.

When Bryant joined the Lakers in camp, O'Neal told reporters Bryant should look to be more of a passer than a scorer until Bryant's knee was fully healed. Bryant took offense, and fired back that he did not appreciate unsolicited advice from O'Neal on how to play the guard position.

O'Neal then responded that he would voice his opinions as he saw fit because the Lakers were "his" team. He said that if Bryant, who would be a free agent at the season's end, didn't like what O'Neal had to say, Bryant should just leave the team.

Bryant replied with his most scathing public criticism of O'Neal. In an interview with Jim Gray of ESPN, Bryant questioned O'Neal's claims of team leadership. Bryant claimed that O'Neal came into training camp "fat" and "out of shape," that O'Neal blamed others for the team's defeats, and had previously exaggerated the degree to which injuries had affected his game as cover for simply being out of condition. Bryant criticized O'Neal's public lobbying for a contract extension. He also criticized O'Neal for only taking responsibility when the team won. He accused O'Neal of threatening not to put forth his best effort if he was not passed the ball more often. [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1648431 ESPN - Kobe critical of Shaq's leadership - NBA ] ]

In the interview, Bryant went on to bristle at O'Neal's previous characterizations of their relationship as "big brother" and "little brother." Bryant claimed that as his legal difficulties began he had gotten phone calls of support from around the sports world, and even a call from O'Neal's uncle, but had heard nothing from O'Neal himself. This, said Bryant, was not what one would expect from one's "big brother."Fact|date=October 2008

Bryant further claimed that O'Neal's "unprofessionalism" had hurt the Lakers, and that if Bryant did choose to leave the team at the end of the season, a major contributing factor to that decision would be, O'Neal's "childlike selfishness and jealousy."Fact|date=October 2008

The now fully-heated rivalry between the teammates prompted incessant sports media coverage. The two ceased their public war of words at that point and claimed that the matter was behind them. They were not widely believed, but with no new attacks on one another to report, the media coverage died down somewhat when, on opening night of the season, an injured Bryant sat down next to O'Neal during the Lakers' victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

However, the symbolic move would not help the Lakers when they lost Karl Malone to a knee injury during the winter. It would also not help the Lakers as they slid towards mediocrity during the spring. Injuries hampered Los Angeles, keeping them as the fourth seed in the Western Conference midway through season — far from the dominance that had been expected.

The Lakers ultimately entered the playoffs as the second seed, thanks to an overtime victory versus the Portland Trailblazers on the final night of the season, courtesy of a pair of buzzer beaters from Bryant. They defeated the Houston Rockets, the San Antonio Spurs, and the Minnesota Timberwolves before advancing to the 2004 NBA Finals, where they were the overwhelming favorites to defeat the Detroit Pistons. However, after five surprising games, the Lakers found themselves not only defeated but dominated by the Pistons, who won the NBA title.

After the loss, the division between O'Neal and Bryant came to a head. At the news conference after the final game, O'Neal addressed the uncertainty around Coach Phil Jackson's now-expired contract, and Bryant's impending free agency, which meant either or both might not return to the Lakers the next season. With regard to the issue of people possibly leaving the team, O'Neal commented that he understood that everyone would need to do what was best for themselves, then adding "including me." That last comment was telling because there had previously been no significant speculation about O'Neal's future with the team, as he was under contract with the Lakers for two more years.

Eventually Jackson, a favorite of O'Neal, was not offered a new contract by the Lakers. Many assumed that this was because of Bryant, who had at times voiced displeasure with Jackson's offensive scheme. O'Neal, who wasn't notified of the move and learned of it by watching television, asked for a trade, making it clear that he felt the Laker organization was making moves designed primarily to placate Bryant. Bryant, meanwhile, was involved in discussions with the Los Angeles Clippers, making it urgent for the Lakers to choose between the two players. Bryant re-signed with the Lakers soon after, and O'Neal's demand was soon indulged, as he was sent to the Miami Heat for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Brian Grant and a first-round draft pick.

After the trade, news came out that Bryant had referred to O'Neal while being questioned by police in 2003. According to reports, Bryant stated that he should have paid off his women so that they wouldn't say anything, like O'Neal. Bryant also stated that O'Neal would pay women up to US$1 million to stay quiet about their rendezvous. It also was reported that investigators had told O'Neal of Bryant's supposed statements shortly after the investigation had begun.

O'Neal denied these claims, stating that Bryant had no idea about O'Neal's personal business since the two of them rarely spent any time together. O'Neal went as far as to say that he " [wasn't] the one buying love, [Bryant was] the one buying love", a derisive reference to Bryant's much-publicized purchase of a multi-million dollar diamond ring for his wife in the aftermath of the revelation that Bryant had been unfaithful to her.

Regardless of whether Bryant's statements about O'Neal were true, or whether the authorities' accurately recounted Bryant's actual statements, the fact that O'Neal had been told that Bryant said such things seemed to shed new light on issues such as why O'Neal had never called Bryant to offer support and why O'Neal seemed to initiate the verbal war with Bryant in the summer of 2003.

In August 2004, the NBA scheduled the Lakers and the Heat to play on Christmas Day. The game became one of the most hyped in NBA history, and registered the NBA's highest regular season television ratings since 1998. In the lead-up to the game, O'Neal referred to Bryant as a "Corvette" and himself as a "brick wall" in an interview with ABC's Al Michaels during halftime of Monday Night Football.

Before the game, many were intrigued as to how O'Neal and Bryant would interact. At center court, during the typical meeting of the players before the game, O'Neal gave Bryant a small, impersonal physical gesture. During the game, Bryant drove into the lane on his first two possessions, being rejected by O'Neal on one attempt and scoring on another. O'Neal fouled out late in the fourth quarter of the game after fouling Bryant, but wound up with the upper hand in the end, after his team won in overtime. The potentially game-winning shot for the Lakers was missed by Bryant as time expired.

Bryant and O'Neal met on the court twice more during the season, once during the NBA All-Star Game and once more when the Lakers played the Heat on March 17 of 2005. In the 2005-06 season, the Lakers and Heat split a season series, each team winning one game.

Throughout the time leading up to the last of those games, the feud simmered quietly. Bryant engaged in no public attacks on O'Neal. When asked directly about O'Neal he would simply state that the matter was in his past and that he wished O'Neal well.

For his part, O'Neal also did not further attack Bryant directly. However, he did make apparent that hard feelings were still present by pointedly refusing to so much as speak Bryant's name. If Bryant came up tangentially when talking about his previous time with the Lakers, O'Neal would refer to Bryant only as "that guy", or "the other guy". When asked directly about Bryant, O'Neal typically would either feign ignorance as to who Bryant was, or simply act as if he had not heard the question.

End of the Feud

Prior to their January 16, 2006 meeting, O'Neal greeted Bryant on the court warmly, a significant departure from his previous attitude toward Bryant. The two shook hands and hugged before tip-off, and many in the media construed this to be the end of their feud. O'Neal said he was spurred to make up with Bryant by NBA legend Bill Russell.

There seemed to be some cause for concern shortly thereafter when Bryant scored 81 points in a single game, and O'Neal refused to comment to the media about it. However, those concerns were laid to rest a few weeks later at the 2006 NBA All-Star Game. At one of the media sessions, O'Neal acknowledged that he had watched Bryant's 81-point game and offered only praise for Bryant's performance. Then, during the All-Star Game itself, the two were seen laughing and joking together on several occasions.

From 2004-2006, the Heat and the Lakers met on Christmas Day to emphasize the Shaq-Kobe battle. This tradition ended in 2007, as the Lakers faced the Suns, and the Heat took on the Cavaliers.

On May 14, 2007, O'Neal stated on TNT that Bryant should be awarded the MVP of the year. However, the MVP was won by Dirk Nowitzki the next day. In 2008, O'Neal reiterated his belief that Bryant deserved the MVP award. [ [http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/03/27/oneal_casts_his_mvp_vote___and_its_a_big_no/ O'Neal casts his MVP vote] ] Bryant went on to win the award for the first time in his career that season.

Head-to-Head Meetings between O'Neal and Bryant

December 25, 2004: Miami Heat 104, Los Angeles Lakers 102 F/OT
* Shaquille O'Neal: 24 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists
* Kobe Bryant: 42 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assistsMarch 17, 2005: Miami Heat 102, Los Angeles Lakers 89
* Shaquille O'Neal: 25 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists
* Kobe Bryant: 26 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists December 25, 2005 Miami Heat 97, Los Angeles Lakers 92
* Shaquille O'Neal: 18 points, 17 rebounds, 3 assists
* Kobe Bryant: 37 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assistsJanuary 16, 2006: Los Angeles Lakers 100, Miami Heat 92
* Shaquille O'Neal: 18 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist
* Kobe Bryant: 37 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assistsFebruary 20, 2008: Los Angeles Lakers 130, Phoenix Suns 124
*Shaquille O'Neal 15 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists
*Kobe Bryant 41 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists

References

# [http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1648431 Kobe on Shaq: 'Childlike selfishness and jealousy']
# [http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10439131/ It looks like Shaq's reshuffling Heat house]
# [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/2004-12-20-shaq-kobe_x.htm Shaq on Kobe: "He's a Corvette, I'm a brick wall"]
# [http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=231028013 ESPN.com - NBA - Recap - Mavericks at Lakers]
# [http://www.thehoya.com/sports/012301/sports4.htm Sports -- L.A. Story: Lakers Feud Hurting Game]
# [http://archive.salon.com/news/sports/col//barra/2001/01/31/lakers/?sid=1009362 Salon.com News | Shaq vs. Kobe: Who's Right?]
# [http://www.nba.com/playoffs2001/finals/west/recap_lal_sas_010519.html?nav=ArticleList Kobe Seals Sweet 16]
# [http://nydailynews.com/front/story/236950p-203436c.html New York Daily News - Home - Shaq Shocker!]