Shaquille O’ Neal and the late NBA star Kobe Bryant shared an infamous beef. They both donned the Los Angeles Lakers jersey together for eight years. It was a partnership that resulted in three titles out of four trips to the NBA Finals. The one clash, though, that stood out for everyone was during an NBA lockout pickup game. As per Olden Polynice, Bryant barely survived grave injury that day.
Shaquille O’ Neal could have injured Kobe Bryant
In his book Three-Ring Circus, Jeff Pearlman detailed the infamous brawl that broke out between Shaq and Kobe. In 1998-99, Shaq was easily at his peak. There was no denying who the Lakers franchise belonged to.
However, for Mamba, who was on a fast rise, it did not matter.The Lakers belonged to whoever was the best. In his head, there was no one as good as him. So, when the lockout shut down all games, Kobe and Shaq visited a school gym to play pickups.
They were on different teams and going at each other incessantly. Kobe Bryant, who was making some quality shots around and over Shaq, began to taunt the 7ft 1″ giant. It didn’t sit too well with him and the two eventually came to blows. Olden Polynice, a 6ft 11″ center, revealed that if he had not held back Shaq, things would have become dangerous for Kobe Bryant.
Polynice:
“Then Shaq swung again at Kobe, but he missed. Shit! I run over and grab Shaq, because I’m big enough to do so. And Shaq keeps swinging, but everything’s missing because I have his arms. I’m grabbing on to Shaq, holding on for dear life, yelling, ‘Somebody grab Kobe! Seriously—somebody grab him!’ Because I’m holding Shaq and Kobe’s taking swings at him. At one point Shaq gets an arm loose and he pops me in the head. Seriously, no good deed goes unpunished. And I’m telling you, if Shaq gets loose he would have killed Kobe Bryant. I am not exaggerating. It was along the lines of an I-want-to-kill-you-right-now punch. He wanted to end Kobe’s life in that moment.”
