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During the Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal era of the Los Angeles Lakers, the storied franchise dominated the NBA, as no other team could combat the duo that consisted of one of the best shooting guards of all time and one of the most unstoppable forces in the paint that the league had ever seen.
As a result of the dominance of this dynamic duo in Los Angeles, the Lakers won three straight titles and seemed as though they could go on to win many more as long as Phil Jackson and company were able to keep the squad intact and motivated.
Unfortunately, Bryant and O’Neal got to the point where they did not get along and created a toxic environment within the organization, which ultimately led to Dr. Jerry Buss shipping the league’s best center to the Miami Heat in 2004, ending the team’s dynasty with those two superstars leading the way.
According to former NBA star Gilbert Arenas on his show “Gil’s Arena,” O’Neal and Bryant despised each other so much that they had different trainers, and those trainers weren’t allowed to work on the other player.
Gilbert Arenas gives a Kobe and Shaq story about them having two separate trainers. pic.twitter.com/ddjohN5wZ3
— Gilbert Arenas (@GilsArenaShow) August 9, 2023
That’s about as bad as it gets for an NBA team that is contending for titles on an annual basis, as it seemed as though those two superstars couldn’t stand to even be in the same room together during the peak of their feud.
As Arenas points out, this was a leadership and power struggle in Los Angeles, with Bryant ultimately coming out on top.
Fortunately for both players, they continued to have success without playing with one another as O’Neal won another title with Dwyane Wade in South Beach, and a few years later, Bryant won back-to-back titles with Pau Gasol.
However, the debate rages on about how many titles these two could’ve won if they had worked out their differences.
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