Are we looking at the next riveting saga in the drama known as Kobe and Shaq's relationship?
It depends how you look at his latest quotes regarding his Lakers jersey being retired.
Arash Markazi of ESPN reports Shaq's thoughts on Kobe passing him on the NBA's all-time scoring list:
O’Neal, who was in Los Angeles this weekend to host the Cartoon Network Hall of Game Awards, says he continues to watch the Lakers regularly after retiring in June and enjoyed watching Kobe Bryant pass him for fifth on the NBA all-time scoring list earlier this season. He did say, however, he should have been much higher on the list but injuries and an inability to hit his free throws held him back.
“Kobe’s one of those athletes like Michael Jordan and Karl Malone that doesn’t miss a lot of games because of injury,” O’Neal said. “I missed 250 games and I averaged 24 points per game so that’s 6,000 points and I missed 5,000 free throws so I could have easily been at No. 2. Kobe’s never really hurt and he shoots a lot so good for him.”
Do these friends-turned-enemies ever let up on each other? I swear, this has the makings of a backhanded compliment.
Sure, Shaq is acknowledging that Kobe is great, but he's almost putting an asterisk on it by saying that he would have been better if things turned out differently for him—mainly health and free throws.
Let's take a look at this quote through our personal rivalry decoder to see what Shaq really is saying:
“Kobe’s one of those athletes like Michael Jordan and Karl Malone that doesn’t miss a lot of games because of injury,” O’Neal said.
Kobe, you're one of the best ever.*
