Kobe Bryant Was 21, Vanessa Was 17: Shaquille O?Neal?s Iconic Birthday Party in 1999 We Knew Nothing About

Lakers Legend and NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O?Neal recently celebrated his birthday on March 6th. Several players, legends, friends, family members, and co-hosts wished the Big Diesel on his special day. One of them was Vanessa Bryant, the wife of Late Lakers legend Kobe Bryant.

Vanessa shared a story on her Instagram wishing Shaq a happy birthday. She also added an interesting line to her story. It said, ” Happy Birthday @shaq! I remember Kob and I going to your birthday party at a club when I was 17. Damn time flies. Happy 50th”.

This was when Shaq and Kobe were together with the Lakers and were on the verge of winning their first title. And Shaq had a historic performance on his birthday.

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Back in the 99-2000 season, Shaq was his most dominant version. He was averaging 29.7 points, 13.6 rebounds and 3 blocks a game. His player efficiency was over 30 and he was on course to win his first MVP award.

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On his birthday though, Shaq didn’t seem to care as he wanted to get to his party. And they were facing the Los Angeles Clippers, who were struggling at that time. Shaq took two early fouls and had to sit the first quarter.

The Clippers outscored the Lakers in the first quarter and were on course for a surprise victory. Shaq didn’t seem to care, but then he was riled up by one of the opposition assistant coaches. That was none other than Lakers Legend, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Kareem was giving tips to his players on how to stop Shaq and the Lakers star didn’t seem to like it. He started to take the game more seriously. Shaq would go on to score 61 points on 24-of-35 shooting from the field, and he shot 13-of-22 from the free-throw line.

There was nothing that could stop Shaq that day. Double team, Triple team, and even the infamous Hack a Shaq strategy didn’t work that day.

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