Some of you may have seen the interview on espn.com already. In case you have not I have posted it here. Shaq sits down and has a one on one interview with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith. They discuss the upcoming All-Star game in which Shaquille O’neal will be reunited with former teammate Kobe Bryant and former coach Phil Jackson. Shaq has nothing but good things to say about his time in LA with Kobe and Phil Jackson. Watch the entire interview below…
A couple thoughts that come to mind after watching this interview. Is this Shaq’s way of apologizing to Kobe Bryant for being such an idiot over the past couple of years, particularly this summer with his little rap stunt? Another thought that comes to mind is it makes you wonder if there really never was a problem with him and Kobe, and that it was actually The Buss Family that forced Shaq out, and failed to clear the air with Shaq that Kobe had nothing to do with it. Here are a few more bold statements and quotes from the interview that are noteworty and worth pointing out:
- Shaq picks Kobe as this years MVP over Lebron
- He calls Kobe and Lebron “Beasts” with an emphasis on Kobe
- Claims Kobe and he to be the best “little man, big man” combo in the history of the NBA ( hard to argue)
- Shaq said about Kobe “I always did love him, it was all about marketing”
- Saying about himself “i’m the smartest player in the world”
- Said that Phil Jackson is the greatest coach ever, and “he’s my guy”
- In answering Stephen A. Smith’s question about how many championships would they have won if Kobe and he stayed together… “probably would have about 6 or 7 easily”
Two more thoughts to take away from this interview. 1) Does this mean a Shaq return to LA is in the near future? Alot of people for obvious reasons don’t think so. But each time he comes out with these interviews you gotta think that he wants to come back to LA. 2) It sounds to me like Kobe was in the right all along, and that Shaq used his fued wtih Kobe Bryant as purely a marketing opportunity!
