“Take That Little Bi**h”: When Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal Decided to Fist Fight in the Middle of the Game

If we go back to Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant’s altercations, we may not be able to keep a count of it. The latter spoke about the first time the two engaged in an altercation on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’. They got into a fistfight during a scrimmage and Kobe Bryant stated, “It was crazy.”

Kobe and Shaq have had a history of feuds and encounters that engaged their viewers. Everybody just wanted to know, “What next?”. The duo had a conversation of over an hour that was aired on NBA TNT during the All-Star Weekend 2018. They talked in length about their achievements as teammates, their disagreements and how competitive spirit against each other became primary.

Kobe Bryant picks on his first fight with Shaq

The duo’s first fight occurred during the lockout season in 1998-99. They were playing a pick-up game in Southwest College. Kobe said, “We were on opposite teams, and trash-talking. And you kept saying ‘Yeah, take that little b***h. Take that little b***h.’ I’m looking around, oh b***h, he’s talking to me. I said well hold on, ain’t going to be too many more of those little b***h.”  Kobe mentioned how Shaq retaliated. “The next thing I knew I saw a big hand coming this way, and I remember going [the other way]….”

Shaq was the one to punch Kobe first

When asked about how he felt after that long conversation with Shaq, Kobe said to Jimmy, “That was fun, man.” Kobe talked about the details of that fistfight on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ with pure humor. When Jimmy asked who threw the first punch in that fight, Kobe went, “He did. I couldn’t reach him.” 

Kobe spoke about his feelings about the fight, in retrospect. “I must have been the craziest 19-year-old in the world to fight this guy.” Kobe even mentioned what happened after the incident. “We were scrimmaging and his team was up 5-2 and (the) game goes to 7. So after the fight, I got real pissed and scored every point and won the game.”