There will be a special guest on the next episode of Shaquille O’Neal’s podcast: Kobe Bryant.
In a teaser of the conversation between the two former teammates, both guys admit to having regrets about the ugly way their partnership came to an end following the 2004 NBA Finals.
Glad me and @kobebryant got to talk it out. Stay tuned to @podcastone and @shaqfuradio to hear the chat #best1-2 Eva pic.twitter.com/oOfDwGoI3k
— SHAQ (@SHAQ) August 27, 2015
Kobe says youthful stupidity led to him battling Shaq through the press.
Per Lakers Nation (via ESPN Radio):
Is there anything, Shaq, that you would like to take back in the give and take over the years?
Shaq: “A lot of things, you just played the clip where I said I wanted to be traded. I definitely did not want to leave L.A., but you know that’s how you’ve got to talk when you’re in business, especially when you think you’re in control. Definitely didn’t want to leave L.A. A lot of stuff was said out of the heat of the moment. I guarantee I don’t remember a lot of stuff that they said because I changed my thought process of, you know what we won three out of four, what the hell are you all talking about, this is not really even a story.”
Anything you want to take back Kobe?
Kobe Bryant: “Here’s the thing though, when you say it at the time you actually mean it and then when you get older you have more perspective and you’re like holy s—, I was an idiot when I was a kid. To me, the most important thing was really just keep your mouth shut. You don’t need to go to the press with stuff. You keep it internal and we have our arguments and our disagreements, but I think having our debates within the press was something I wish would’ve been avoided, but it did kind of create this whirlwind around us as a team with myself and Shaq and the press and the media that just put so much pressure on us as an organization.”
Related
Shaquille O’Neal Didn’t Mean it When He Threatened to Kill Kobe Bryant
