The LA Lakers could have been the greatest dynasty ever with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, but something got in the way.
The Los Angeles Lakers were the last team in the NBA to three-peat. Since then, no other team has been able to pull off this incredible feat.
The pairing of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant was unstoppable. The two all-time greats dominated every team they faced on a nightly basis.
But there were problems bubbling beneath the surface. Kobe and Shaq did not get along well on the Lakers, which led to the latter’s acrimonious exit from the team in 2004.
In a situation where the team’s two top stars are feuding, there are bound to be sides formed in the locker room. And one former LA Lakers star says that is exactly what stopped their team from being the greatest dynasty ever.
Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant feud caused rift in the locker room
Former LA Lakers trainer Gary Vitti spoke in an interview with Byron Scott recently. When addressing the fallout between Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, Vitti provided an interesting perspective.
He believes that while the two stars could have handled their feud better, the rest of the Lakers locker room and management didn’t help matters by picking sides.
“A team is like a family. You may get mad at somebody in your family, you might get angry with your mom or your dad or your brother, or your sister. But you don’t stop loving them, and that’s the difference.
“In that era, we stopped loving each other, and when that happened, people started choosing sides.
“It’s easy to blame Kobe. This really bothers me, because we should have won 10 championships. It’s easy to blame Kobe, and it’s easy to blame Shaq.
“What about the rest of us? Including me. There’s other players, there’s management, there’s ownership, and coaches. People chose sides.”
LA Lakers would have been unstoppable if feud was managed well
One of the NBA’s biggest ‘What If?’ scenarios is Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal staying on the Lakers past 2004.
Given the talent at hand, it’s hard to imagine a world where the duo didn’t go on to win more NBA championships together.
While Shaq hit his prime on the Lakers, Kobe’s prime came years after the Diesel left the team. One can imagine Kobe would have easily been able to take a load off Shaq’s shoulders as he grew older.
Add to that the success both stars experienced away from each other, winning three NBA championships and reaching four finals between 2005 to 2011 when Shaq retired, and it’s almost a guarantee that they would have won at least one more title together.
While the pair couldn’t resolve their issues during their careers, they did put the past behind them years down the line.
Prior to Bryant’s unfortunate passing in 2020, he and O’Neal shared a very close relationship. While we may never know how good they could have been, we got to see how great they were.
