Shaquille O’Neal’s Misery Saw a Massive Rise for Kobe Bryant in Locker Room, Hints Ex-Lakers Teammate

While many would say Shaquille O’Neal leaving the Los Angeles Lakers cost Kobe Bryant more championships, Robert Horry views it differently. 2004 was the last time we saw Shaq and Bryant on the same team. But there was a phase before it where Bryant was a solo warrior when Shaq was sidelined in 2002 after their championship. Although this was a huge concern, Bryant was able to focus on one thing that he always cared about. 

Horry was speaking about the recent high-scoring performances in the NBA. The last time we saw someone do this was the Black Mamba. The 2002-03 season displayed what the Lakers were capable of without their dominant center. Horry shared, “He[Bryant] would be like, ‘Hey man, can you all help me keep this run going?’ This is the best part about basketball.”

He added, “We were sitting in the locker room after practices. Someone went up to the chalkboard and said, ‘This is the list of things we want.’ Everybody started writing down, ‘This is what you got to give me in order for me to keep giving you the ball.’ That was a funny thing we did.“

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As promised, Bryant’s teammate kept feeding him the ball, and he had nine consecutive 40-point games that season. While Shaq’s injury was a concern, this helped Bryant to prove what was capable of. Maybe this was the reason why the Lakers chose him over Shaq in 2004. But is this latest scoring outburst by NBA stars as good as Kobe’s was? Horry doesn’t think so.

Robert Horry criticizes modern NBA superstars despite their high-scoring numbers

It was lovely to watch Stephen Curry, Devin Booker, and Karl Anthony Towns drop 60-point games one after the other. However, huge numbers like that were not enough for them to get a win. Horry highlighted Bryant’s high-scoring games to show the difference. He said, “Take these last couple of guys that scored 60-plus points. They all still lost their game. That doesn’t really mean crap, Kobe was able to do that, and still win.”

A win matters the most at the end of the day. Bryant had the mentality to win, and not just score. Horry believes this is the problem with the NBA superstars today. Well, it looks like a fair point from the 7x NBA champion. 

What are your thoughts? Do you agree with him? Share your take in the comments below.

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