Shaquille O’Neal gained three NBA Championships with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Whereas Shaquille O’Neal was undoubtedly the first celebrity on the LA Lakers’ three rings from 2000 to 2002, he had a gifted sidekick.
It was none aside from NBA legend Kobe Bryant, who was nonetheless making a reputation for himself when the Lakers accomplished a three-peat.
Regardless of being the secondary star on the group, Bryant’s contributions had been nonetheless essential for the Purple and Gold.
Former NBA star Tracy McGrady just lately made headlines for claiming he wouldn’t have retired ringless if he had been on the Lakers alongside Shaq as an alternative of Kobe.
O’Neal solely added gasoline to the hearth when he not solely backed T-Mac’s declare, Shaq introduced he would have gained three rings with him, like he did with Bryant.
Now, O’Neal’s former teammate and a member of the Lakers’ 2002 NBA championship-winning roster, Samaki Walker, just lately referred to as ‘cap’ on the Corridor of Famer’s assertion.
“I’m calling Cap. Let me inform you one thing. I really like T-Mac. T-Mac is considered one of my favourite gamers, and I watched him.
“The truth is, he was as gifted, and doubtlessly much more gifted, than Kobe from a pure expertise standpoint,” Walker mentioned on The Coach JB Present.
He added: “However if you discuss basketball gamers, it’s the way you play the sport. It ain’t simply scoring. It was what Kobe did off the courtroom to arrange mentally.”
As Walker talked about, McGrady was as soon as considered as Bryant’s rival on the courtroom, however that’s the place the comparisons ended.
O’Neal retired from the NBA as a four-time champion. However to this present day, many consider that Shaq underachieved as a consequence of his lackluster work ethic.
Bryant, then again, was a scholar of the sport and did the whole lot in his energy to achieve the benefit over his opponents.
“Would T-Mac problem Shaq the way in which he did? We’re speaking mentality now. Would that occur? I doubt it,” Walker mentioned whereas explaining how Kobe was the right teammate for Shaq.
“Kobe had the mentality to convey the most effective out of the Diesel and carry that, and wasn’t keen to be confrontational with anyone. It wasn’t about being boys with Kobe. And that’s what makes success,” he concluded.
Certainly, that’s a superb take, and contemplating Bryant gained two extra rings as the first possibility on the Lakers, it proves that he was able to main the group to championships with out Shaq.
