But there was another side to the basketball susperstars' relationship. Bryant viewed O'Neal as out of shape and overweight, and questioned his leadership. O'Neal pointed out that he was the "big dog" on the team. He thought Bryant was selfish and didn't pass the ball enough. O'Neal would later say the biggest issues between the two were of the marketing variety. After falling to the Detroit Pistons in the 2004 NBA Finals, Bryant had enough when O'Neal compared him to Penny Hardway and the All-Star guard said there was "not a chance" they could play together again.
But in recent years the two have shared positive words about each other and have been seen laughing together. "I always remind him every time I see him," Bryant, who's won five championships with the Lakers, told Yahoo! Sports. "I saw him after the All-Star Game and said, 'How you doing, 'Four' ?' He said, 'Oh, you [expletive].' [Our relationship is] really good now. We have such a mutual respect for each other."
"The thing that I respected about him was when he stepped on the court he was ferocious. That's the thing we both had in common. Between those lines nothing could stop us," Bryant said. Despite the many issues, Bryant added that he "really, really learned a lot" during O'Neal's time with the Lakers from 1996-2004.
Lakers owner Jerry Buss was faced with a dilemma in 2004 after the two clearly stated they didn't want to be teammates any longer. His options: keep a dominant but older Shaq or the younger but cockier Kobe Bryant. O'Neal ended up being dealt to Miami for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Brian Grant, and some picks. Bryant was re-signed the following day.
With whatever the past was, neither party could deny the fact that the other greatly helped in winning those championships. It's really a shame that when O'Neal had his moment in front of Laker nation with virtually everyone there from his years in LA and was giving his expected emotional yet comical speech, that Bryant couldn't be there. It's also a shame that the two had to be split up like children in a schoolyard fight, because they may have been the greatest duo ever and could have gotten even more rings. But instead we're forced to imagine what more they'd end up doing.
