533: 194: We might be even more outrageous (asking for monthly votes!) 533: 194: We might be even more outrageous (asking for monthly votes!) This was the first time Shaq had heard the phrase “Shaq also sucks.”
For the first time, the phrase made him understand what extreme blood pressure felt like.
Of course, what Shaq didn’t know was that this bit of hurt was far from the limit of what that phrase could inflict.
At best, it was just a warm-up.
O’Neal was furious, what do you mean my one-on-one efficiency isn’t high?
I’m being defended by multiple people, how many are defending you?
Shaq was in a terrible mood, extremely terrible.
It wasn’t just because of Kobe’s remark, but also because he was almost mocked by the entire American media.
“After leaving Roger, Shaq is simply a giant baby who can’t walk.”
“The great leader who led the team to lose by less than 30 points in the first game.”
“The center with the most dominance in the history of the Los Angeles fans, couldn’t even handle a team with no height on the inside.”
“If you saw the tragedy of Scott leading the team alone in Chicago, you wouldn’t be surprised by the result of Shaq leading the team alone.
Because essentially, they are the same type of player.”
From being the center of attention before the season started to becoming everyone’s target overnight, O’Neal had only taken one evening.
In the past, when Shaq had a conflict with Roger, Reebok would still try to smooth things over through the media.
But now that Shaq had left the Reebok team, there was no media to help him.
He became a complete laughingstock.
Shaq needed to vent, and his outlet was the annoying Kobe.
The next day on the training court, O’Neal cursed out Kobe, “Do you even have the right to talk about me?
I’ve never seen such trash, a guy guarded by one person and still having a shooting percentage of only a little over 30%!
If Roger was guarded by one person, he…”
At this point, O’Neal couldn’t even continue.
He always compared Kobe with Roger unconsciously.
In Shaq’s mind, Kobe was supposed to be Roger’s replacement.
Kobe was already a sophomore, and when O’Neal had partnered with Roger, Roger was also a sophomore.
So why couldn’t he compare them?
The more O’Neal compared, the more he realized the two were incomparable!
The sophomore Roger, although he hadn’t won a scoring title yet, despite his passing vision being limited, and his defense not quite enough.
But he was already considered one of the league’s top scorers.
Aside from being more diligent in training than Roger, he had nothing else to compare with Roger.
Kobe didn’t respond, just kept shooting baskets on the training court, letting O’Neal rant.
But O’Neal did not let things slide with Kobe; after the morning training, Shaq disregarded the coaching staff and organized a player meeting in the locker room by himself.
Rather than calling it a player meeting, it was more like a “Kobe Bryant Criticism Conference.”
The content of the meeting was to criticize Kobe.
Why did Shaq hold such a meeting?
First, it was to vent his dissatisfaction, and second, because that’s how he had been sidelined last season!
O’Neal could never forget the locker room meeting Roger held last season, and that infamous “bloody vote.”
Since then, O’Neal had no standing within the team.
Since then, the Orlando Magic had completely become Roger’s team.
O’Neal wanted to emulate Roger; he had to take complete control of the team to avoid such a humiliating defeat again.
He had to learn to be a real leader, he had to deal with Kobe once and for all!
Shaq knew that Kobe, with his EQ of -120, had bad relationships with almost all the veterans in the team, so he was full of confidence about this meeting.
Closing the door, O’Neal was the first to speak, “Hey Kobe, you need to play team basketball!
Stop the same old routine of dribbling between the legs and then bricking shots, pass the ball to me then cut, I will immediately pass the ball back to you, and like that, you can easily score 20 points a game.
Why can’t you ever take advice?
Immediately someone backed up O’Neal, such as Van Exel, “Every time Kobe indulges in one-on-one, the coach always says ‘He’s just a kid, let him be,’ to be honest, I’m sick of it!
Kobe, the coach’s tolerance is not a license for you to do whatever you want!”
After finishing, the ones left feeling awkward were Shaq and Van Exel.
They had given their all, but the other person didn’t react at all!
Just like what Roger said, “Shaq, I can’t feel your existence at all.”
Kobe just sat in front of his locker, silent.
His “I don’t care what you say” attitude nearly made O’Neal want to slap him across the face.
Eddie Jones was about to stand up and speak, but the locker room door was suddenly pushed open.
The one bursting in was Del Harris, furious like a raging Bull, his eyes almost turning blood red, “Dammit, haven’t you guys ever been young and selfish?
Shaq, did you call this meeting against Kobe?!”
Eddie Jones, who always had a good relationship with Shaq, quickly sat down upon seeing this, pretending as if it had nothing to do with him.
On the contrary, Fisher, who had a lukewarm relationship with Shaq, stood up, “Coach, Shaq had no other intentions, he just wants to win.”
“Dammit, you can’t do this!
Kobe still needs time, you can’t just interrogate him !”
Soon, Jerry West arrived at the scene as well.
No one knew who had told Del Harris about the meeting, but Harris had definitely informed West before coming.
Perhaps Harris knew he couldn’t control Shaq, but West could.
West looked at the silent Kobe and Shaq standing in the middle of the locker room and had a good idea of what had transpired.