Re: You'll love this!

[Dale Chase <chase@ISI.EDU>]

Clipped from the Los Angeles Times web page.


             Web-published February 17, 1999 | Updated 5:09 PT 

              BASKETBALL 
              Shaq, Kobe Dismiss Feud 
This story line is not original or entirely apt, but suddenly it is the
chatter of this Laker-obsessed league: Shaq and Kobe, is this team big
enough for both of them? 
              TIM KAWAKAMI, Times Staff Writer 

This story line is not original or entirely
apt, but suddenly it is the chatter of
this Laker-obsessed league: Shaq and
Kobe, is this team big enough for both of them? 

       Even though the on-court mini-brawl
between the two stars occurred a month ago
during voluntary workouts and was reported
in The Times three weeks ago, it became
coast-to-coast gossip fodder this week after
Seattle SuperSonic center Olden Polynice,
present at the workout, started theorizing
about the incident's greater meanings. 
       The speculation: As Kobe continues to
rise and Shaq watches it all happen and the
Lakers struggle a bit, was the quick
push-and-shove the flash point of an ego tug
of war that could pull the team apart? 
        "It wasn't a big deal--that's just competitiveness coming out,"
O'Neal said after Tuesday's shoot-around. "We're always going to be
good friends. It was just a hard foul, that's it. 
        "Nothing personal. You all know me; if it was personal, I
would've let it be known a long time ago." 
        O'Neal and Bryant said Bryant went flying into the lane during a
pickup game, was slammed hard by O'Neal to prevent the basket, got
up angrily to dispute the incivility of the foul, shoved O'Neal and got
shoved back a few times. 
        No punches landed, and the players were quickly separated. A
hard foul, they both say, and no hard feelings. 
"And I guarantee you this, I'll bet you nobody else on another
team will do that to Kobe," O'Neal said, "especially while I'm here." 
        Bryant chuckled Tuesday when the recent wave of
Shaq-vs.-Kobe reporting was brought up to him. 
        When you have two young, enormously high-profile players
together, when you have a team that hasn't yet hit its stride, when
you have a giant hunger for news about the Lakers in a league
famous for intra-team feuds, this stuff is bound to be stirred up,
Bryant said. 
        "It's natural [to be talked about] especially with what happened
with him and Penny [Hardaway in Orlando], whatever, and they
broke that team up," Bryant said. "If people want to think that Shaq
and I have the egos and blah, blah, blah. . . . 
        "I really don't care. People can say whatever they want. Bottom
line, 12, 15 years down the line, people are going to say, damn, that
was a great team! We're not going anywhere." 
        Both players suggested the real story is far more subtle than the
simple jealousy angle. 
        "Shaq and I, we're going to be around each other so long, it'd be
unrealistic to think we wouldn't get into a fight once in 20 years,"
Bryant said. 
        "We got into an argument. I think if anything, we might've gained
more respect for one another. You know Shaq wasn't going to back
down. So I wasn't going to back down. 
        "I gained a lot more respect for him, and he gained a lot more
respect for me. Because after that we came back and played even
harder; it was his team against my team. It's great. You need that
once in a while." 
         So, who's team is this? 
         "Who cares, man? He's the vocal guy, he gets everybody
pumped up, everybody's eager to play," Bryant said. "I just go out
there and play. I think it's a perfect combination." 
         Said O'Neal: "I really don't care if you all say it's Kobe's team or
it's my team. When I was watching the Lakers, Kareem was the best
player, but they said it was Magic's team. And Kareem didn't mind. 
"So if you all want to think it's Kobe's team, I don't give a . . . . 
         "I don't have to go to dinner at everybody's house off the court.
But on the court, everybody has a job to do. If they can't do their job,
they need to get out. They need to ask to be traded or I want them to
be traded. 
         "Kobe has stepped up. He's playing well. He's still learning the
game. This is his third year, he's learning the game. He's very
aggressive, he's playing hard."