A few days ago, Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal clapped back at a fan on Twitter who said that he wouldn’t have won a ring with the Lakers without Kobe Bryant.
O’Neal explained that no player can win alone in the NBA, and he used his coworker on TNT, Kenny Smith, as an example in his argument.
no person can win without another star big dummy how many would magic have without kareem how many would kenny smith have without hakeem wtf u talking about i hate dumb ass people enjoy my stats and stf up
— SHAQ (@SHAQ) June 13, 2022
Bryant and O’Neal were an outstanding duo during their time together in Los Angeles, and they made each other better. That led to the Lakers winning three NBA titles with the duo leading the way.
Smith recently backed up O’Neal’s claim that nobody can win a title alone in the NBA.
“Shaq’s a hundred percent correct,” Smith said. “It’s a team sport. And if you don’t have Rick Fox, you don’t have Robert Horry, they don’t win either.”
Smith mentioned his own title teams, explaining that basketball is “not tennis” and that it’s impossible to win alone. Smith also responded to the idea that it “diminishes” O’Neal to say that he needed Bryant to be as successful as he was with the Lakers.
“No, that shows the power of what Shaq is by saying that he needed someone else,” Smith said.
Smith explained further that O’Neal’s willingness to accept that he needed someone else helped make him a champion.
Even though O’Neal may have needed Bryant to win titles in Los Angeles, there is no questioning his greatness as a player.
During his Hall of Fame career, O’Neal averaged 23.7 points, 10.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 58.2 percent from the field. Lakers fans are very grateful that he and Bryant teamed up to make history in L.A.
