Shaquille O’Neal or Kobe Bryant?
It’s the debate that never dies. And this week, Kobe himself breathed new life into it, whether he wanted to or not.
« I wish he was in the gym, » he said of Shaq in an otherwise complimentary answer to Valuetainment’s Patrick Bet-David (h/t NBA Central). « I would have f–king 12 rings.”
It wasn’t long before « Shaq, » « Kobe » and « Shaq and Kobe » were all trending on Twitter.
« There is no beef with @SHAQ » Kobe later tweeted. « I know most media want to see it but it ain’t gonna happen. Ain’t nothin but love there and we too old to beef anyway #3peat »
« It’s all good bro, when I saw the interview, I thought you were talking about Dwite, is that how u spell his name lol, » Shaq replied.
Leaving aside the Dwight Howard connection, Shaq and Kobe seem just fine with each other now. That wasn’t always the case, of course. Lakers Nation has a tidy little timeline of their various dust-ups with each other.
But however their relationship stands in the wake of the new comments, they did get NBA fans talking. And NBA fans talking can get us thinking.
Who was actually better? Kobe had the insatiable hunger for winning. Shaq had physical traits and abilities that made him one of the most dominant players ever.
Statistically, the big man also has a pretty overwhelming advantage. In a blind poll presenting each player’s 10-year peak, Shaq’s numbers dunked all over Kobe’s:
This ranking isn’t any sort of surprise as Bryant was always going to rank himself at the top of the list — that was probably expected by most. It is interesting to note that Bryant ranked Jordan second ahead of James meaning he believes the latter still has work to do to get on his and Jordan’s level.
What really made the video itself entertaining was Bryant strongly considering eating the cow tongue. For a moment, it felt as if he really was going to refuse to answer the question and take on the cow tongue before relenting at the last minute.
Of course, as the only active player, James still has the opportunity to close the gap and maybe even surpass Bryant and Jordan. If he is able to lead the Lakers out of the worst slump in franchise history and back to a championship, it will certainly strengthen his argument.
