Kobe Bryant sought to clarify comments about former Lakers teammate Shaquille O’Neal being too “lazy” to become the greatest player in NBA history during an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”
Bryant said it was said largely in jest, and more of a “compliment” to O’Neal’s sheer dominance.
The big fella naturally pushed back once the story went viral, saying his work ethic spoke for itself.
Per TMZ:
“Here’s the thing, it was really a compliment,” Bryant said. “People missed the whole first half of that in which I said he was the most dominant player I’ve ever seen and I felt like he could’ve been the greatest of all time.
“So, people kind of missed that part of it — they caught onto the lazy part,” the Lakers icon added. “But, that was like, I kinda said that tongue-in-cheek. We weren’t going to win 12 rings.”
Kobe said he actually had to text the Big Diesel after the comments went viral, saying, “No hard feelings, I still got love for you.”
Related Kobe Bryant: Shaquille O’Neal Would Be the G.O.A.T. if He Worked Harder
