{"id":45338,"date":"2025-04-28T12:12:43","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T11:12:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/?p=45338"},"modified":"2025-04-28T12:12:48","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T11:12:48","slug":"shaquille-oneal-recalls-endearing-mvp-moment-with-kobe-bryant-reveals-why-black-mamba-thanked-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/shaquille-oneal-recalls-endearing-mvp-moment-with-kobe-bryant-reveals-why-black-mamba-thanked-him\/","title":{"rendered":"Shaquille O\u2019Neal Recalls Endearing MVP Moment With Kobe Bryant, Reveals Why Black Mamba Thanked Him"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Former Los Angeles Lakers superstar Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal recalled a heartwarming moment with former teammate Kobe Bryant from the 2009 <a href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/nba\/\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>NBA<\/a> All-Star Weekend. Both Bryant and Shaq were named co-MVPs following their impressive run in the star-studded clash. While Black Mamba ended the All-Star Game in Phoenix with 27 points, four rebounds, and four assists, Shaq had 17 points, five rebounds, and three assists.&nbsp;<\/p><p>Recently, Shaq revealed how Bryant&rsquo;s actions after winning the Co-MVP Award made him emotional. Speaking on The Big Podcast with Shaq, the Four-time NBA Champion said, <em>&ldquo;As much as I miss Kobe, one of my favorite days was at the All-Star game in Phoenix. It was toward the end of my career. I made it and he kept dropping me off and it felt like the old days.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/em><\/p><p><em>&ldquo;At the end when we both got MVP, he gave the trophy to my son, grabbed me, and said &lsquo;Thank you, big fella. You always stayed on my a** and I love you for that.&rsquo; That sh*t almost brought tears to me, but the fact that he took the trophy and gave it to little Reef&hellip; cause you know Kobe ain&rsquo;t emotional,&rdquo;<\/em> the 15-time NBA All-Star added.&nbsp;<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Kobe to Shaq after the 2009 All-Star game: <br><br>&ldquo;Thank you, big fella. You always stayed on my a** and I love you for that.&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/z6wKL7qSkl\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>pic.twitter.com\/z6wKL7qSkl<\/a><\/p>&mdash; The Big Podcast (@bigpodwithshaq) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bigpodwithshaq\/status\/1915809078888083817?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>April 25, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure><p>Notably, Shaq and Black Mamba formed one of the greatest duos in the history of the league during their time on the franchise. Both were teammates for a total of eight seasons and they accomplished a historic three-peat from 2000 to 2002.&nbsp;<\/p><p><strong>Also Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/lakers-criticize-mcdaniels-possible-foul-on-doncic-late-in-game\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>Lakers criticize McDaniels&rsquo; possible foul on Doncic late in game<\/a><\/strong><\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/go-betmgm-sportsbetting-us-en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" class=\"trk-cta-img\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Image\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"486\" src=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/unnamed-2-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-43535\" style=\"width:527px;height:auto\"><\/a><\/figure><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Was Kobe-Shaq Rivalry Like?<\/h2><p>While Bryant and O&rsquo;Neal were unstoppable on the court, they didn&rsquo;t get along off the court. Their rivalry began in 1998, two years after both players joined the LA Lakers. While earlier it was reported that Shaq was jealous of Bryant&rsquo;s jersey sales, their feud came into light during the 2000-01 season when the former came into camp out of shape.&nbsp;<\/p><p>Later, during the 2003-04 season when Bryant was dealing with rape accusation, Shaq&rsquo;s remarks about the team further instigated things. Black Mamba was upset at his teammate for not reaching out to him during his legal troubles and stated that Shaq was &ldquo;supposed to be my friend.&rdquo; After the Lakers lost to the Detroit Pistons in five games in the NBA Finals, their feud reached a boiling point.&nbsp;<\/p><p>Shaq O&rsquo;Neal demanded a trade from the Lakers, and the franchise ended up moving him to Miami Heat. On the other hand, Bryant signed a long-term extension with the Gold and Purple Brigade. While both weren&rsquo;t on great terms at first, but after partying ways, they put their hostilities aside later when they became teammates again for a brief period of time.&nbsp;<\/p><p>The All-Star Game in 2009 was the first and last time post 2004 when they were teammates. The on-court rivalry between them finally came to an end in 2010-11 when Shaq retired from the NBA. Following it, there were numerous incidents when the 53-year-old heaped praises on his former teammate. Their beef ended completely when Shaq said that he &ldquo;lost a little brother&rdquo; following Bryant&rsquo;s demise in a fatal helicopter crash in 2020.<\/p><p><strong>Also Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/head-coach-jj-redick-may-have-only-one-shot-to-win-a-championship-with-the-lakers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>Head Coach JJ Redick may have only one shot to win a Championship with the Lakers<\/a><\/strong><\/p><p><\/p>\n<div class=\"mm-layout mm-layout-type-post mm-layout-slot4\">\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shaquille O&#8217;Neal and Kobe Bryant were teammates for a total of eight seasons and they accomplished a historic three-peat from 2000 to 2002.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":45358,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_mux_skip_reasons":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[422,312],"class_list":["post-45338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","tag-kobe-bryant","tag-shaquille-oneal"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - 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