When Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant's ugly divorce was finalized, and both parties went their separate ways, the question that carried over was who would win more championships before retiring. Shaq ended up winning his first one without Bryant in 2006 with the Miami Heat, but it was the Black Mamba who won two more (5 to Shaq's 4). That's why after Bryant won against the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals, he made sure the whole world knew , including the Diesel.
" My first thought [after hearing that] was, 'Well, I guess I'm still relevant,'" O'Neal said as reported by ESPN. "Kobe is still thinking about me, I guess. I'm still someone to be measured against ."
Why Shaq didn't care (or chose not to)
The four-time champion signed with the Boston Celtics right after Bryant won his fifth title. O'Neal clarified that this wasn't a move to rival up against his former teammate because, after all, he didn't consider the five-time champion as his enemy, even if he had one more ring than him. Shaq admitted that he only took the ring count tally seriously against fellow big men in his era.
" But I don't compete with little guards. I don't compete with little guys who run around dominating the ball, throwing up 30 shots a night -- like D-Wade, Kobe," O'Neal said. "Now, if Tim Duncan said it, I'd be pissed. He's the only guy I'm competing with. If Tim Duncan gets five rings, then that gives some writer the chance to say, 'Duncan is the best,' and I can't have that ."
Unfortunately for O'Neal, his tenure in Boston didn't last long due to injuries, so he didn't get that one last opportunity to ring chase. The big man retired in 2011, after which he saw Duncan claim his fifth ring in 2014. If Shaq indeed didn't care enough to be frustrated that Bryant won his fifth ring, then Timmy winning another certainly affected him.
Related: "He said he was tired of being Shaq's sidekick" - When Phil Jackson dropped the reason Kobe wanted to part ways with Shaq
In reality, Shaq truly cared that about Bryant winning
Exactly seven years after O'Neal claimed that he didn't care that Bryant won his fifth ring, he eventually admitted that he went as far as tearing his house up after the 2010 NBA Finals. This was quite the opposite of what the Diesel initially implied in 2011 but maybe that was his way to avoid creating further drama.
" When I got four, you got four, I was like, ' Oh hey, we are straight.' When you got that fifth one and said that you just have one more than Shaq, that was perfect TV. I said I won't be able to get five. I'm 38, hips bad, and knees bad; I just got a call from Steve Kerr that they traded me to Cleveland, who traded me to Boston. I'm like it might be over, so this was something that I had to live with: Kobe had 5 and Shaq had 4 ," O'Neal said during his one-on-one interview with Bryant.
This moment was further proof that Bryant and O'Neal's silent feud continued even if they had patched things up prior to 2010. It's also evidence that not everything a player of Shaq's statue says at the moment is true.
Related: "I got a call from Shaq" — Shaquille O'Neal once asked Stephen A. Smith to deliver a heartfelt message for Kobe Bryant
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