Kobe Bryant Opens Up About His Current Relationship With Shaq

Kobe Bryant spoke about his current relationship with Shaqille O'Neal in preperation of Shaq getting a statue outside Staples Center.

Kobe and Shaq
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Image via Getty/Kevork Djansezian

Kobe and Shaq

On Friday, Kobe Bryant and Shaq were due to reunite as the latter was set to get a nine-foot tall, 1,200 pound statue that was just slightly bigger than him. In anticipation of this event, the LA Times spoke to Mamba to get an update on what was once the most entertaining intra-team beef in all of sports.

As we've seen in recent years, their relationship has softened a hell of a lot (I mean... a hell of a lot). And so it wasn't surprising that Kobe had fond things to say to Shaq, you know, now that they're not sharing the same locker room.

"When you win three titles together and you’ve had so much impact on one another’s legacy as a player and as a champion," Bryant told the Timesby phone this week, "[t]here is absolutely no way in the world I would miss an opportunity to talk about him and thank him and to acknowledge everything that he’s done for not only this organization and the city, but for me personally."

From there Kobe made sure to give a comment on Shaq's Hall of Fame speech, where the Big Aristotle, or whatever nickname you want to call him, said in a somewhat joking manner that Kobe pushed him to be dealt to the Miami Heat. “I guess by default maybe that’s true,” Bryant said. “My mind was going someplace else, understanding that Shaq was going to stay… he opened the window first. Once he demanded the trade… that put a halt to my free agency because the Lakers were not going to lose Shaq and me in the same year.”

Kobe also made sure to share what he's learned from Shaq because time heals all wounds, and because you can't fight change no matter how unrecognizable the world becomes. "I’ve learned so much from him," Bryant said. "He’s extremely, extremely good at bringing others on the team and pushing them. Striking the balance between hard leadership and a pat on the back. Those are things I learned from him… that was a big, big shift for me."

Bryant capped the talk by relaying that he and Shaq text, mostly about their kids. And that their relationship is "extremely cordial." When Kobe found out Shaq was getting a statue, he FaceTimed to congratulate him, which is the first time they've seen one another (if you can call FaceTime "seeing one another") since Kobe's final game almost a year ago. That is, until today anyway.

We've come a long way from the "tell me how my ass tastes" days.

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