“Shaq Understood”: Belittled in Front of His Wife, Shaquille O’Neal Gave Up $120,000,000 Dream Job for Kobe Bryant Long Before Jerry Buss’ Cold Shoulder

The saga of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant is well-documented. The two won three championships together and formed one of the best duos ever to grace the NBA stage. After the three-peat, however, things turned sour between the two Los Angeles Lakers greats, and their partnership ended abruptly. If we understand things from Shaq’s perspective, there is a story of being abandoned by the franchise that helped him get to the title dream. Later, however, it shifted elsewhere because the Black Mamba was becoming a superstar. 

It’s essential to understand the role of the Purple and Gold franchise after the three-peat, on any discourse around Shaq-Kobe stories. One interesting point of view comes from one of their teammates.

Shaquille O’Neal realizes Kobe’s worth

Robert Horry played for the Lakers for seven seasons. As a part of the three-peat, the forward had seen Kobe and Shaq closely. Recently, he appeared on the “All The Smoke” podcast hosted by Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson.

During the podcast, he touched upon how the Big Aristotle had to give space for Kobe “Bean” Bryant to develop. He labeled the 2000 NBA season as a big momentum booster for the Hall-of-Famer guard.

“They saw when Shaq found out that Kobe was able to take over. We saw it all season, we saw it in practice. We saw how he was getting better and better. I think what was best was that Shaq understood it too. There were moments when Shaq would give him the ball then Shaq will back off, trying to get out of his way. He would go to the dunker spot and let Kobe do his thing. That’s how he got the dunk in the Portland series because he let Kobe do his thing”, said Horry.

While the legendary guard was developing into an Ace type of player with the help of Shaq, some incidents made the bruising center, who had initially signed a 7-year deal worth $120,000,000, feel sidelined.

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Another point of contention between the franchise and Shaq was his contract extension. “O’Neal was fed up with the team’s unwillingness to give him a three-year extension that would afford him more than $100 million,” described sports writer Jeff Pearlman.

Shaq felt disrespected by owner Jerry Buss

One major incident happened when the 2000 MVP was sitting alongside his wife, Kobe Bryant, and the Lakers’ former owner Jerry Buss after losing the 2004 Finals against the Detroit Pistons. The former center noticed that the Lakers owner wasn’t paying attention to him after the trio of titles.

The big man felt ostracized because Buss was only talking to Bryant and not Shaq. A hurt Shaq then peeked at his wife, expressing disillusionment. Shaq said, “He was talking to the other side [Kobe Bryant]. He didn’t say anything to me. I looked at my wife Shaunie, and I looked at Uncle Jerome, and I was like, ‘Uh-Oh’.” This anecdote puts a lot of things into perspective. One thing was, however, clear to Shaq. The Lakers’ front office was banking upon the Black Mamba more than Diesel. The testimonies supplied by the first pick of the 1992 Draft, additionally, speak as evidence.  

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