In an interview with ESPN, Kobe Bryant says he would pick LeBron James over Shaquille O'Neal for his own NBA All-Star team if presented with the decision. Now, we should point out that there was an important caveat that probably contributed to Bryant's choice.
Immediately after the initial question was posed, Kobe shot back, "What year are we talking Shaq?" After finding out that he would be getting the 2004-05 version of Shaq who played for the Miami Heat, Bryant responded, "No, I'll take LeBron James. Are you kidding me?"
If it were the Los Angeles Lakers version of Shaq, we would like to believe that Kobe would pick his former teammate over James. However, Bryant has made it no secret that he has always wanted to play alongside LeBron. When the Black Mamba sat down on legendary UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma's podcast, Kobe explained why the King would be the player he would want to play with in his prime.
"I think the player that would fit with me the most, I actually think would be LeBron," Bryant said, per Matthew Moreno of Lakers Nation. "He's a passer first, I'm a scorer, I'm a finisher. 'Bron is a facilitator by nature and I'm a finisher by nature. Those two styles, I think compliment each other extremely well."
So, basically, what Bryant likes most about the prospect of playing with LeBron is that he won't get in the way of the Black Mamba living his best ball hog life. Considering this Kobe we're talking about, that response sounds right on brand for him.
