Word: shaq
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...Jackson makes clear in the book, the interpersonal triangle that connected him, Bryant and center Shaquille O'Neal fell apart. Bryant was consumed with being Los Angeles' alpha Laker and saw any Shaq gain as his loss. It was office politics at a whole other level. "These two guys had to be on the same wavelength," Jackson tells TIME. "I don't think there's anything particularly that kept Kobe from throwing the ball into Shaq. But the opportunity for them to play together--give, go screen, roll--was never really fleshed out. So I thought it kept us from...
...Only out of desperation, with the Lakers down 3-1 to Detroit, did Kobe give in. "You know how much I hate this f______ offense," he tells Jackson in the book. "But I'll settle in, and we'll just execute the triangle and get the ball inside to Shaq." Thanks, Kobe. Too late...
SPORTS: Seeking the next Shaq...
...relieved that Shaq is in another conference now? Yes. My sympathies go out to all the Eastern Conference centers...
Bryant is now free to rejoin his Laker teammates--at least those who are left. As his legal team was scoring point after point, his basketball team, which lost to Detroit in the NBA finals, was disintegrating. Coach Phil Jackson is gone. So is Shaq, Gary Payton, Rick Fox and possibly Karl Malone. Bryant is the lone star, a few million dollars lighter for his legal fight--plus the $4 million "I'm sorry" ring for his wife--and toxic as a marketing personality. His contracts with McDonald's and Sprite are finished. He still has a $45 million deal...