Shaquille O’Neal’s championship aspirations came up a “Penny” short. Then Jerry West teamed him with one of the greatest!
The similarities between Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan are well documented at this point, but O’Neal goes the extra step to say that Bryant became Jordan after he left.
His former feuds with Bryant are well documented, but we now know that there was no teammate he respected more and no one he loved playing with more than the “Icon”, Kobe Bryant.
When times were good, there was no duo that could stop these two. No one and good luck trying to find anyone. How dominant were they? Shaq called the third Finals win against the New Jersey Nets boring.
"“It was boring. It was boring because, what was that center’s name – Todd MacCulloch? Todd MacCulloch playing me? Stop it. You know what’s crazy? I actually got mad when we were playing in Jersey. You think Todd MacCulloch is going to stop me at the crib in Jersey in front of my grandma and grandpa?….Sheeeeeit! No. Stop it.”"
Lake Show Life has a saying. The film doesn’t lie.
But Shaq always had his chances one on one against Todd Macullogh because Kobe Bryant commanded attention of his own. The “Triangle” offense provided the perfect spacing for O’Neal to do work. After Game 3, it was plain to see that the series was over and Shaq was probably bored by that point.
Sadly, this was the end of the dynasty without anyone really knowing it. Many issues with the Kobe/Shaq feuds, Phil Jackson wearing out his welcome and bench players getting bigger contracts slowed the dominance for a while.
All Los Angeles Lakers remember the beginning of the dynasty. It will live on forever in NBA playoff history.
That alley-oop is widely regarded as the moment Shaq and Kobe realized their powers, and in the following three years, they won three championships together and made four NBA Finals trips in five years.
Could they have won more if they learned to put their differences aside and co-exist? Lake Show Life discussed at an earlier time. But their three-peat was still a remarkable feat, and something no one has done since.