2. What if Kobe and Shaq put aside their differences and stayed together?
Now, this one is a lot to ask as by doing so you would essentially have to assume that one of the two superstars would have to drastically change their ways. Either Bryant would have to loosen up on Shaq’s workload and be fine with sharing the spotlight with the Big Diesel or Shaq would have to focus more on basketball and also be okay with sharing that spotlight.
After one of the most dominant three-peats in league history, we watched the Kobe-Shaq Lakers unfold before our eyes in the 2003 NBA Finals, where they were bested in five games by the Detroit Pistons.
The relationship was past the point of no return and the Lakers had to make the better long-term decision and trade Shaq to the Miami Heat, sticking with Bryant as their franchise piece.
But what if the two learned to play together and stayed together? Of course, there is salary cap implications that would have complicated this process, but what if they just stayed together another three seasons?
What if they both took slight pay cuts on their next contracts to play together and the Lakers got the final years of Shaq’s career? Kobe’s career would have been different, as his scoring outbursts in the mid-2000s would not have happened often, but Shaq could have slowly given way to Bryant as the true superstar on the Lakers.
Shaq won a title with the Miami Heat without Kobe that he definitely would have won with the Black Mamba. Assuming the two learned to play together as well, the 2004 NBA Finals could have been a different story.
By sticking together another three years, Kobe and Shaq very well could have been the Michael Jordan-Scottie Pippen of the 2000s, winning six NBA Championships. Maybe they still lose in 2004 and then start another threepeat, just like MJ and the Bulls.
This would have had an impact on the later stages of Bryant’s career and we probably would have never seen Pau Gasol become a Laker. However, the front office still could have pivoted and landed another star in LA, which could have led to even more rings for Kobe’s legacy.