Shaq has Kobe as guest on his one hour podcast

[dockingsched]

So apparently Shaq has a weekly one hour podcast and this week his guest is Kobe. They're playing a small part of it on ESPN 710 right now but the entire podcast releases tomorrow.

The part they played was if they'd take anything back. Shaq said he'd take back his trade demand, he didn't want to leave. Kobe would take back the bickering through the media.

Should be a fun listen when the entire thing comes out

[eckoner]

Kobe admits culpability for it not working and Shaq does too! lol
i heard them say it would be released tomorrow then again they said on monday?
I cant wait to hear the whole thing

[Tee212]

sounds about right tho..i think they just want to both let it out since its way in the past and just own up to it in front of each other and the public. all we can say is "what if" and what could of.

[eckoner]

Most think they would have won 7 or 8 titles if they stuck together.

[dockingsched]

Most think they would have won 7 or 8 titles if they stuck together.

I always have to laugh at claims like these. Shaq had a good three years after being traded, he was done as a elite player by 07-08. With the extension it was going to take to keep him that would've maxed the cap out and the lack of assets surrounding Kobe and Shaq, they would've been lucky to even win 1-2.

[Marionettetc]

Yeah for real, I was about to post that earlier but I didn't want to be negative.

30 million dollar 32 year old Shaq wasn't going to do ****. Kobe was set to make 14 million that year, so you had 44 million dollars (1 million OVER the cap back in 2004-2005) in two players who couldn't get past the Pistons. Let's not rewrite history with homer glasses.

[Edrees]

kobe is being a homie and classy, but deep down I doubt he thinks he would have won more than 2 titles if shaq stuck around. I'm sure kobe does regret how it ended, but I don't think he regrets the end result. Shaq probably does though.

If shaq played as motivated and hungry and working as hard as he did during the 1st - 2nd year of the threepeat, then I would say lakers could have won 7 titles, but no way shaq was going to keep playing like that. I bet if he stayed they might have won one more, two tops, same result to the Lakers.

[Sofa King]

Someones gonna post a link

[eckoner]

Most think they would have won 7 or 8 titles if they stuck together.

I always have to laugh at claims like these. Shaq had a good three years after being traded, he was done as a elite player by 07-08. With the extension it was going to take to keep him that would've maxed the cap out and the lack of assets surrounding Kobe and Shaq, they would've been lucky to even win 1-2.

I agree 100% .....Shaq was actually in his prime and had peaked when he departed LA for MIA. But....But....But....A Peaked Shaq even declining was still the most dominant big and id say IMO he carried that obviously thru that MIA title.

Im happy the two guys can be adults and move forward as they both are LA Laker legends.

[Sofa King]

Shaq: "A lot of things. You just played the clip where I said I wanted to be traded. I definitely did not want to leave L.A., but you know that's how you've got to talk when you're in business, especially when you think you're in control. Definitely didn't want to leave L.A. A lot of stuff was said out of the heat of the moment. I guarantee I don't remember a lot of stuff that they said because I changed my thought process of, you know what, we won three out of four, what the hell are you all talking about? This is not really even a story."

Kobe: "Here's the thing, though. When you say it at the time, you actually mean it, and then when you get older, you have more perspective and you're like, holy ****. I was an idiot when I was a kid. To me, the most important thing was really just keep your mouth shut. You don't need to go to the press with stuff. You keep it internal and we have our arguments and our disagreements, but I think having our debates within the press was something I wish would've been avoided, but it did kind of create this whirlwind around us as a team with myself and Shaq and the press and the media that just put so much pressure on us as an organization."

http://uk.complex.com/sports/2015/08/kobe-bryant-beef-shaquille-oneal-idiot-when-i-was-kid

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1B8cTWWKqo[/youtube]

[MAMBAEMD]

That Finals loss to Detroit was one of the most heart breaking losses I can remember and I've been watching the Lakers for 36 years.

As painful as it was, the Shaq and Kobe show had run it's course by the end of that Finals run.
These were two alpha males, one on the brink of decline, and the other on the verge of his peak, but both with egos the size of the Pacific ocean.
Kobe had deferred being "the man" for years, and allowed Shaq to dominate in the 3-peat Finals runs. Kobe didn't really have a choice.
Kobe tried to take over in that Final against Detroit, and it ended with a humiliating loss.

There had to be a change made. One of them had to go.
And the Lakers chose wisely to give the team to Kobe.

[Lakers_Forever]

They were just saying what they think everyone one wanted to hear in my opinion, because I would have said the same things that Kobe said after Shaq went off on his rant the year Karl Malone and Gary Payton joined the team. I believe Kobe got fined for responding and I would bet that it was worth every dime of that fine to Kobe - it would have been for me. Shaq was arrogant and lazy as hell in those last few years. If anything, he should regret not taking better care of himself, not learning to make free throws and not staying at the top of his game and for demanding a trade as well. Yes he got one more ring, but had he stayed, the Lakers could have returned, Malone and Payton would have stayed and they would have had several more excellent chances to win more championships.

[Sofa King]

"I didn't appreciate Shaq until I played with Dwight"- Kobe Bryant on the Shaq Podcast.

[snaquille oatmeal]

So apparently Shaq has a weekly one hour podcast and this week his guest is Kobe. They're playing a small part of it on ESPN 710 right now but the entire podcast releases tomorrow.

The part they played was if they'd take anything back. Shaq said he'd take back his trade demand, he didn't want to leave. Kobe would take back the bickering through the media.

Should be a fun listen when the entire thing comes out

just want to thank dock for saying releasing and not "dropping". thank you. you are Shakespeare in my eyes.

[Kilroy]

Most think they would have won 7 or 8 titles if they stuck together.

I always have to laugh at claims like these. Shaq had a good three years after being traded, he was done as a elite player by 07-08. With the extension it was going to take to keep him that would've maxed the cap out and the lack of assets surrounding Kobe and Shaq, they would've been lucky to even win 1-2.

I definitely agree with what you are saying... We were already capped out and struggling... But I think we were struggling more because Shaq and Kobe couldn't get along than we were from the cap. They had effectively split the team.
I think if they had been on the same page, they would have crushed Detroit for sure. I think their decline of effectiveness was more about a lack of joy playing the game.
I think 7 was doable. I think Shaq would have declined slower if he had accepted his role with Kobe. I think Kobe would have been more effective if he had accepted his role with Shaq. Those two guys on the same page, were maybe the most dominant 1-2 punch in the history of the game. They just needed to buy into it. Just think if Kobe could have extended Shaq's prime a few more years, we could have had Prime Kobe AND Shaq.
And if they did buy into it, the contracts would have been easier and more players would have wanted to jump on board... They'd have been the Spurs, only better. It's all about being better mentally.

[Slava]

The cap in 2005 was around $44 mil if I'm not wrong. Kobe wouldn't take a pay cut, that was his second big extension and it would start at around $17 mil, so even if Shaq drops his demands from $30 mil/yr to $20 mil a year, those two would still account for more than 90% of the cap and we had contracts of Payton, Devean George at around $4 mil still on roster.

So the only room for improvement would be the draft, MLE and league minimums. I highly doubt we could have reconstructed that roster without trading Shaq. The team that came after the trade was rather good and if Kobe did not go down and Rudy had not hit the bottle, they'd have made the playoffs. The biggest calamity was trading Caron for Kwame which sunk us for a couple seasons.

[dockingsched]

Most think they would have won 7 or 8 titles if they stuck together.

I always have to laugh at claims like these. Shaq had a good three years after being traded, he was done as a elite player by 07-08. With the extension it was going to take to keep him that would've maxed the cap out and the lack of assets surrounding Kobe and Shaq, they would've been lucky to even win 1-2.

I definitely agree with what you are saying... We were already capped out and struggling... But I think we were struggling more because Shaq and Kobe couldn't get along than we were from the cap. They had effectively split the team.
I think if they had been on the same page, they would have crushed Detroit for sure. I think their decline of effectiveness was more about a lack of joy playing the game.
I think 7 was doable. I think Shaq would have declined slower if he had accepted his role with Kobe. I think Kobe would have been more effective if he had accepted his role with Shaq. Those two guys on the same page, were maybe the most dominant 1-2 punch in the history of the game. They just needed to buy into it. Just think if Kobe could have extended Shaq's prime a few more years, we could have had Prime Kobe AND Shaq.
And if they did buy into it, the contracts would have been easier and more players would have wanted to jump on board... They'd have been the Spurs, only better. It's all about being better mentally.

I disagree with the idea that shaqs delcine would've been slower on the lakers. If you recall, Shaq getting traded was the motivating factor in Shaq deciding to get in some of the best shape of his career. Every lakers fan that summer was bitter that he never took the time to get in shape like that with the lakers.

Another reason why it couldn't have worked anymore is that the Jackson Kobe relationship was done at that point. Phil was done dealing Kobe. The only reason they were able to reconcile later on was because of the few yr's of absence and because Shaq was eliminated from the picture.

[Kilroy]

I always have to laugh at claims like these. Shaq had a good three years after being traded, he was done as a elite player by 07-08. With the extension it was going to take to keep him that would've maxed the cap out and the lack of assets surrounding Kobe and Shaq, they would've been lucky to even win 1-2.

I definitely agree with what you are saying... We were already capped out and struggling... But I think we were struggling more because Shaq and Kobe couldn't get along than we were from the cap. They had effectively split the team.
I think if they had been on the same page, they would have crushed Detroit for sure. I think their decline of effectiveness was more about a lack of joy playing the game.
I think 7 was doable. I think Shaq would have declined slower if he had accepted his role with Kobe. I think Kobe would have been more effective if he had accepted his role with Shaq. Those two guys on the same page, were maybe the most dominant 1-2 punch in the history of the game. They just needed to buy into it. Just think if Kobe could have extended Shaq's prime a few more years, we could have had Prime Kobe AND Shaq.
And if they did buy into it, the contracts would have been easier and more players would have wanted to jump on board... They'd have been the Spurs, only better. It's all about being better mentally.

I disagree with the idea that shaqs delcine would've been slower on the lakers. If you recall, Shaq getting traded was the motivating factor in Shaq deciding to get in some of the best shape of his career. Every lakers fan that summer was bitter that he never took the time to get in shape like that with the lakers.

Another reason why it couldn't have worked anymore is that the Jackson Kobe relationship was done at that point. Phil was done dealing Kobe. The only reason they were able to reconcile later on was because of the few yr's of absence and because Shaq was eliminated from the picture.

You're saying you disagree with me, but you aren't really... Shaq was out of shape because he wasn't motivated to stay in shape. The trade reignited that.... Well what if he just never got 'unmotivated' in the first place? This whole thread is about hypothetical...

Same with Kobe and Phil... Phil and Kobe were tired of each other because Kobe was ignoring Phil on the court and Phil was stabbing Kobe in the back in the media... Well what if they didn't do that?

All of that basically comes down to Kobe and Shaq committing to each other and the plan in LA... That happens and the sky was the limit for those 2.

[kblo247]

The lakers had 2 more problems besides
- Shaq being unmotivated
- Kobe feeling like Shaq and Phil were pissing on him in the media
- Phil losing Kobe's no Shaqs ear and unable to control the feud


Mitch and Jerry Buss killed that duo as much if not even more than those 3 did. They would not have kept contending depending upon them. Jerry was cheap at the time and cost cutting. Bash me for it but it is true. He looked to cut costs every single step of the way from Eddie Jones to Rice to not offering Horace Grant or Lue a deal after 15-1, and letting Fisher walk for mle money when they **** gave an older fisher the damn mle three years later as an admission of stupidity way back when; that process continued 3 years after Shaq left till Kobe cause a media **** storm with the trade me tirade and he couldn't actually deal him with the NTC. Mitch also deserves a dunce cap for his gm skills. He never once made those teams outright better year to year, he inherited what west built and couldn't do **** with it besides lose guys and throw out stupid mid level deals. Payton and Malone are an outlier, before the Pau deal was handed his way, we saw Mitch spend his money and picks on Deaven George with the full mle, Lindsey Hunter and Mitch Richmond, Aaron McKie, Kareem Rush, Brian Cook, Luke Walton, Slava Medvedenko, Smush Parker, Shammond Williams. Mitch was terrible at the draft and in free agency. He had nothing to do with Payton and Malone coming, that was all Shaq making calls as he said in his book. His best draft pick was probably Walton during the Kobe and Shaq years, let that sink in.


Kobe, Shaq, and Phil were stopped as much by incompetent management who didn't want to invest in them fully as anything else, and that largely stemmed from Phil **** Jeanie and the fact they weren't as pretty as Showtime despite being more dominant and better box office wise

[Goudelock]

While this thread is focused on what Shaq and Kobe could have accomplished, the thread on the GB is focused on something Kobe said about Dwight Howard. I thought that I'd just throw that out there.