“There’s one boss and one boss only,” Shaq said when he was asked about his exit from the Lakers in 2004. The Purple & Gold struggled for a few years after the Big Aristotle was traded to the Miami Heat in 2004. With Shaquille O’Neal out of the picture, and veterans Karl Malone and Gary Payton also moving on, the Lakers finally became Kobe Bryant’s team. A former teammate who joined the Lakers after O’Neal’s departure revealed what the locker room conversations at the time were like.

In an interview with Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson, Smush Parker recounted that the locker room situation was fine, with Bryant naturally stepping into the role of captain and leader for the Lakers. 

“He was taking on that role first time as a captain. I believe it was a rebuilding year and it was his first attempt at being a team leader so, I’m going to say just that the whole vibe you know in the locker room in the organization was okay,” Parker revealed in the interview. As Parker stated, the team missed their chance to reach the playoffs in the 2004-05 season. This marked the first time in 11 years that the Lakers failed to make the playoffs. Later, Parker joined the Lakers in 2005 and played for two years.

While there was not as much success as the front office would have hoped for, it certainly helped Bryant take up more of a leadership role and guide the team. Some of Kobe’s greatest scoring performances came during this time, including his legendary 81-point outing. But it was the first time he was playing with no other star on the roster. And that proved to be problematic when Smush joined the team.

Parker averaged 11.5 points per game, gaining popularity as the team’s point guard. However, during his time in LA, Parker also had issues with Bryant. In a previous interview with Pablo Torre Finds Out, Parker recalled that Bryant refused to speak to him unless he had earned enough accolades.

Not to mention, Bryant once publicly criticized Parker, stating that he wasn’t good enough to play for the Lakers. He wasn’t the only one, though. The Lakers legend also had feuds and arguments with O’Neal. As per rumors, O’Neal and Bryant weren’t exactly seeing eye to eye and that was one of the reasons why the Lakers decided to trade Shaq.

Shaquille O’Neal refused to have any feud with Kobe Bryant 

While Bryant was fiercely competitive, O’Neal had a more laid-back approach to his work ethic, which seemingly fueled their tension. However, O’Neal has always denied that there was any real feud between the two in 2004. 

“You got to understand there’s one boss and one boss only, and a lot of times, you know, you got people that work for you, it don’t go like that. However, the respect has to always be there. We don’t see eye-to-eye, but it ain’t a feud, it just looks like a feud,” O’Neal said on the Big Podcast.

He admitted that they had their differences, but claimed that wasn’t the cause of the rift. His comments suggested that the dynamic duo, who won three consecutive championships at the turn of the century, faced issues due to their equal leadership qualities and differing perspectives on how to approach the game.

O’Neal once shared that money was the most important factor in his decision to move to the Miami Heat. The two eventually mended their relationship long before Bryant’s tragic passing. Despite their past conflicts, they had immense respect for each other, and it was evident in the way they spoke about one another.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.