Jordan/Pippen got along during their three-peat. Kobe/Shaq? Well, we already have beaten that dead horse.
Jordan’s Bulls never faced a duo nearly as accomplished as O’Neal and Bryant skills-wise. That’s not up for debate. Even though no championship will be easy, this conversation by the late Lakers icon Kobe Bryant with Graham Bensinger tells you the story between the two teams and the star dynamic.
God bless the Los Angeles Lakers three-peat team, but Kobe and Shaq hated each other at the time. This was no secret. But at the time, after the Lakers survived the Trail Blazers on their first championship run, there really was no other team that had a player that gave the Lakers troubles. That player? Rasheed Wallace. In the 2004 Finals, he made this point clear.
Remember Jackson’s contract was not renewed. Most media outlets connected Jackson’s exit to Kobe Bryant, who was believed to be tiring of Jackson’s triangle offense. Phil’s dismissal was a PR nightmare at the time.
It also didn’t help when Jackson released The Last Season, a book that describes his point of the struggles that surrounded the 2003–04 Lakers team. The book shined a bad light on Kobe Bryant.
Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan did not have that type of relationship. Jordan has stated time and time again that he doesn’t get those rings without Pippen.
Jordan hits the game-winner to get title number six, but if you watch Scottie Pippen, he was out there with his back totally shot. He shouldn’t have been out there in the first place. After the game, he was in tears.
When asked why he played, he stated he just wanted to be there with his teammates to just contribute something. As Kobe stated in the interview above, he wasn’t willing to make that sacrifice yet. That’s the difference.
Speaking of Scottie Pippen.