Many NBA fans tend to look back at the most dominant duos and try to retroactively assign a “driver” and a “passenger” tag to them. This is exactly the narrative surrounding the 2000s Los Angeles Lakers superstar duo of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. More often than not, people suggest that it was the Diesel who did the heavy lifting. However, he himself thinks otherwise.

Recently, a basketball page on Instagram highlighted a few statistics from the 2001 playoffs where Diesel put up 487 points in 694 minutes, averaging 30.6 PPG. On the other hand, Kobe finished the run with 676 minutes and 471 points, averaging 30.7 PPG. Shaq himself came out in defense of Kobe and made his stance clear on this fact.

“We carried each other fan boy,” O’Neal commented on the post.

Well, in each of those three NBA Finals series, it was the Lakers’ big man who bagged the MVP honor by putting up mind-blowing numbers. This made the Black Mamba’s performance somewhat of an afterthought. However, that’s not exactly how Big Shaq views it.

The former Lakers center finally put the debate to rest through his statement. Despite that, this argument was quite flawed to begin with. That’s because even though O’Neal’s numbers in the finals were off the charts, in the lead-up to those, Kobe Bryant’s contribution was second to none. Just look at the 2001 Western Conference Finals as an example.

In that series, against the San Antonio Spurs, who had the league’s best defense at the time, the Mamba averaged 33.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 7.0 assists. This performance was not only significantly better than Shaquille O’Neal’s 27.0 points per game, but it was also an absolutely absurd statistical output. Moreover, another point that this debate seemed to overlook was that, although it was Shaq who dominated the numbers, L.A. relied on Kobe to land the final blow.

So, it’s safe to say that each of them played their part to perfection and achieved what was important– the NBA championships. However, they could’ve done a lot more if only they had stayed together for longer. LA Clippers head coach, Tyron Lue, believes that they could’ve added several more titles and accolades if they hadn’t parted ways in 2004.

Tyron Lue believes Shaq and Kobe could’ve dominated the league for several more years

Throughout time, there have been several “what if” scenarios within the NBA. However, only a few would come close to the question of what if Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant stayed together for a few more years at the Los Angeles Lakers. Well, according to Clippers head coach Tyron Lue, they would’ve obliterated the entire league, collecting several more rings in the process.

“They could have won eight,” Lue said. “I wasn’t there for the Detroit series or whatever. I’m glad my best friend Chauncey (Billups) got a championship, but there was some bickering back and forth then. Like, they could have easily won that (series),” the Los Angeles Clippers head coach added.

“But if they stayed together, they won seven-eight championships. Could nobody beat that duo?” He continued. “Somebody might have slipped up and won, like Detroit. But, if we leave outside that year and come back the next year, nobody is beating them.”

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Well, it goes without saying that the duo looked unstoppable back then. However, beneath it all, they were facing issues, and egos were colliding. Shaq’s laid-back attitude and Kobe’s hustle and grit weren’t the best of combinations. And the boiling point came when the underdog Detroit Pistons beat them during the 2004 NBA Finals. After which, the front office decided they were better off without O’Neal, who got traded to Miami.

Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant assumed the role of being the franchise cornerstone of the Purple & Gold until his retirement. Despite all that, it’s still hard not to agree with Tyron Lue, as if the duo put aside their ego and decided to make it work, there’s no reason it would have worked. Nonetheless, both players went on to achieve more success, going down as some of the greatest players of all-time.