Shaquille O’Neal Once Asserted That Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen Were Not Above Him and Kobe Bryant

Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant formed one of the scariest duos in NBA history. They formed the face of the Lakers for several years and won three titles in a row for the franchise. In fact, both players are inducted into the Hall-Of-Fame and are also a part of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary team.

However, Shaq’s LA journey wasn’t so rosy, to begin with. When he joined the Lakers, Kobe was only a rookie, and there was no real partnership between the two. However, over the years, the Kobe-Shaq one-two punch would blossom.

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Under coach Phil Jackson, the duo would first taste championship victory in 2000 as the Lakers trounced the Pacers in 6 games in the finals. Thereafter, the Lakers would win two more titles and bring glory to LA. In light of this, Shaq spoke about how his partnership with Kobe was better than that of Jordan and Pippen.

Shaquille O’Neal Makes a Bold Claim

In an interview with Kristine Leahy, Shaq compared his partnership with Kobe to that of MJ and Pippen. He began by explaining how he went into ‘overdrive’ after critics questioned his dominance as a player because the Lakers kept losing in the playoffs. Thereafter, he spoke about how Phil Jackson was beneficial for the team since he knew how to manage a star-studded team.

Shaq then addressed Jackson’s ability to take teams to NBA finals consistently. Although Jackson’s previous final run was with MJ, Pippen, and the Bulls, Shaq spoke about how Kobe and he were at par and sometimes better than the Bulls duo. So Jackson had a good chance to win in LA as well.

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“Yes, he had Michael and Scottie. You don’t have Michael and Scottie again, but you’ve got 2 guys that are equal or even better at times with Kobe and Shaq,” he explained.

Thereafter, Shaq explained that even the rest of the roster apart from him and Kobe was strong. He supported his claim by comparing Brian Shaw to Steve Kerr, and Rick Fox to Toni Kukoc.

Regardless of Shaq’s claim, one cannot deny the achievements of Pippen and Jordan. The duo won 6 titles that included 2 three-peats and cemented the legacy of the Chicago Bulls. However, Shaq and Kobe were dominant as well. In the 8 years that they were together, they went to the finals 4 times and won thrice.

So it isn’t easy to say that one is better than the other. The only way to identify the better duo is to put them up against each other while each pair is in their prime. That, for sure, would be a sight to see.