Shaquille O’Neal is seemingly catching strays after he shared an edited picture of a basketball Mount Rushmore, as fans noticed an obvious omission from the Diesel’s list.
O’Neal’s post on X included Hall of Famers Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, as well as future Hall of Famers LeBron James and Steph Curry. In defense of O’Neal’s post, each of these men has the accolades to put their face on the mountain with Jordan and Abdul-Jabbar having six championships each, and James and Curry each having four.
O’Neal captioned the post, “Who’s missing,” leaving social media users to add their own suggestions. Some suggested James and Curry to be swapped out with other Hall of Famers such as Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Tim Duncan, or O’Neal himself. There was one notable name that fans almost unanimously felt was snubbed from the list, and that was Kobe Bryant.
One critic said, “Kobe, come on! I love Curry and he is really great but relys on screens for alot of his points. Kobe created his own way he didn’t need any of that he was a killer. You can have curry in a 5th spot if you want, but not over Kobe.”
Another commented, “The disrespect is so REAL and it’s all because he’s not here to say anything they know 100% if he was still alive they wouldn’t even put LeBron over Kobe we will never forget what Kobe brought to the game and stayed on one team and one five rings!!!”
The disrespect is so REAL and it's all because he's not here 😔 to say anything they know 100% if he was still alive they wouldn't even put LeBron over Kobe we will never forget what Kobe brought to the game and stayed on one team and one five rings!!! https://t.co/6JIPAF2KDl pic.twitter.com/xOvrRdA2X6
— $moneymitch$ (@Mitch98Mm) December 10, 2023
While a large portion of fans thought O’Neal made the list and was “disrespecting” his former teammate, that is far from the truth. The former dynamic duo had a tumultuous relationship while playing together for the Los Angeles Lakers, but time apart from each other led to fonder feelings.
Their relationship started in 1996 after Bryant was drafted to the NBA and O’Neal was picked up out of free agency. O’Neal’s problems with Bryant seemingly started in the late ’90s as he was rumored to have become jealous of Bryant’s rising fame and irritated by his ball-hog playing style. The pair truly started beefing after O’Neal came in to the ’00-’01 training camp overweight.
As they went on to win three championships together, their relationship got worse, and it finally ended when O’Neal was traded to the Miami Heat.
That separation did not end the feud, especially when reports emerged that Bryant told Colorado police who were investigating him in 2004 over a sexual assault complaint that he
“should have done what Shaq does … that Shaq would pay his women not to say anything” and already had paid up to $1 million “for situations like this.”
Shaq would respond by telling ESPN, “I never hang out with Kobe, I never hung around him. In the seven or eight years we were together, we were never together. So how this guy can think he knows anything about me or my business is funny. And one last thing — I’m not the one buying love. He’s the one buying love.”
Shaq continued to taunt his former teammate throughout the end of the 2000s, but the Black Mamba got the last laugh after he won the 2010 NBA Finals. After his win one of his first comments he made was, “I got one more than Shaq, so you can take that to the bank.”
After retiring in 2011, O’Neal continuously praised Bryant for gaining more accolades at the end of his playing career. Just like most NBA fans, he was devasted when Bryant and his daughter Gianna “Gigi” Bryant died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020.
During TNT’s tribute to Bryant, O’Neal said, “I haven’t felt pain that sharp in a while. I lost a little brother,” as tears streamed down his face.
O’Neal previously added his “little brother” to his basketball top ten list back in August. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, O’Neal said his list includes Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, himself, and Bryant. He rounded out the list with Curry, Duncan, Allen Iverson, Karl Malone, and Isaiah Thomas.
