Young Kobe Bryant Was ‘Frustrated’ With Disorganised Lakers That Was Based Around Shaquille O’Neal, Reveals Renowned NBA Author

Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal were one of the best duos the league had ever seen. Together, they won 3 NBA championships from 2000 to 2002 for the Lakers. Even though Kobe was a superstar at the time, Shaq himself was a dominant force on the court; his 3 NBA Finals MVP during the three-peat are a testament to that. 

However, the two superstars’ feud during their years together is no secret. The flare-ups between Shaq and Bryant had been reported many times. But they were able to look past their differences for the benefit of the team.

Renowned sportswriter Roland Lazenby has written multiple books about the NBA over the years. In one of the recent episodes of “The Black and Blue Pod” podcast, he revealed some intricate details about a young Kobe Bryant. Notably, he also said that Kobe was miserable during his early years with the Lakers. 

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A frustrated Kobe Bryant

During the podcast, the host asked Lazenby about the differences between Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. Roland Lazenby said, “…I spent a lot of time with Kobe when he was a young guy in the league. He was miserable, he didn’t think the Lakers were organized. He was very frustrated. You know they were based around Shaq but there was no real structure to the things. And he was as miserable a kid I’ve seen…” 

He said that it was during the Lakers’ 1998-99 playoffs against the San Antonio Spurs when he was rebounding Kobe’s free throws, and Kobe said to him that he always dreamed of playing for Tex Winter. 

Tex Winter innovated the triangle offense. After over 30 years as a college head coach, he joined the Bulls as an assistant coach for Phil Jackson. And he won 6 NBA championships with Phil and the Bulls. 

Later, when Phil Jackson took over as head coach of the Lakers, Winter joined him. Roland said that Tex became Kobe’s mentor when he came to the Lakers. He also said that Tex was Kobe’s guy until 2009 when Winter suffered a stroke. 

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Lazenby also revealed that Kobe Bryant always went to war with Phil Jackson and Tex Winter always defended Kobe. He said that Tex was the only guy in the Lakers that could stand up to Phil Jackson. 

Notably, Tex Winter was instrumental in the Lakers winning 3 titles with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. Yet, Kobe found the team rather disorganized at that stage. Do you feel the same?