For all you Lakers fans out there, we've got one hell of a surprise that we're gonna put out for you soon (stay tuned!). But, for now, we've got a bit of bad news for you. That whole Shaq vs. Kobe thing that you had to sit through a few years ago? Yeah, that was allPhil Jackson's fault. That's right. The legendary "Zen Master," started the feud between Shaq and Kobe, fueled the fire between them, and ultimately forced the Lakers to part ways with the big man because of it. Er, at least that's how it went according to former Lakers forward Robert Horry.
"I think Phil Jackson started that feud," he revealed recently. "It happened many times that after team practice he would say, 'Kobe said this about Shaq, and Shaq said that about Kobe'...We couldn't believe how that could happen, because just the day before, we saw them together, jumping on one another. Phil liked it when there was conflict of some sort...I always tell people, if you look at those championships, you'll see who were the closest players on the team. Normally, those are the guys who are the first to hug each other. And when we were winning, it was always Shaq and Kobe who hugged. I think this will answer your question. Later, it was blown out of proportion by the media and both players started doing something that didn't make sense."
Hmmm...Well, that explanation kinda, sorta, in a weird way makes sense. And we wouldn't completely put it past Jackson to pull something like this in order to get more out of his team. But, we also don't think Shaq and Kobe would've been best friends if Jackson hadn't been in the picture. Not a bad theory, though, Big Shot Rob.
[via Pro Basketball Talk]
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