Recently, Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal revealed a pretty funny tale about how some of the franchise’s greatest players came to the defense of Kobe Bryant when the All-Star veteran tried to haze the young star.
While O’Neal and Bryant ended up being a dynamite combo that took the franchise to three straight NBA Finals victories 20 years ago, things were not always good between the two basketball Hall-of-Famers. Their eventual fallout is well documented, but the pair also had issues during Bryant’s early years as he looked to assert his place on the roster.
With O’Neal already being an established superstar at the time, it is unsurprising to learn he looked to throw his weight in the locker room around and keep the guard under his thumb during those early seasons. It even led to some alleged hazing by the big man. However, that tactic to make Bryant pay his dues actually bothered the Lakers front office and a pair of team greats.
Pair of Los Angeles Lakers icons told Shaquille O’Neal to knockoff hazing Kobe Bryant
During a recent edition of his “The Big Podcast with Shaq,” O’Neal spun a hilarious yarn about the one time he tried to haze a young Bryant and was then visited by several major executives and legends from the organization.
“I hazed Kobe one time and it’s like the FBI came to my room the next morning,” O’Neal said. “They were like, ‘he’s off limits.’ I was like, ‘What you mean he off limits?’ Like, bro, ‘He off limits.’ Jerry West came down, Mitch [Kupchak] came down Magic [Johnson] brought his punk a** down like, ‘Hey man leave him alone.’
“And the only reason I didn’t mess with him is because when I got to Orlando [with the Magic] Scott Skiles told me to lift his bags. I said, ‘I don’t do that bro.’ He said, ‘You’re a rookie.’ I said, ‘I’m Shaq, I ain’t lifting no bags.'”
It is surprising that the “Diesel” even tried to haze “Black Mamba” in the first place since he didn’t like it when it was done to him. But both were immature and clearly in a battle of alpha males in that Los Angeles Lakers lockerroom. So it’s not completely shocking considering their history.