The Kobe Bryant-Shaquille O'Neal partnership went through some tough times both on and off the court, but that didn't stop them from capturing three consecutive NBA championships together with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000, 2001, and 2022.
No team has three-peated since — only the Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat have come close, with each franchise claiming one back-to-back title run since the Lakers' early 2000s era. In those early days, though, when O'Neal was the undisputed best big man on the court, and Bryant was coming into his own as a legendary, iconic superstar, no one could stop those Lakers teams.
Which makes it surprising that, even though O'Neal experienced his greatest run with any of the NBA teams he suited up for during his 19-year Hall of Fame career, it's not the Lakers' run that Shaq claims is the height of his winning history. No, for that, we have to look at the 2006 Heat championship run, which Superman claimed it was his best.
Shaquille O'Neal admits his championship with the Heat was his best, even better then any he won with the Lakers
O'Neal was traded from the Lakers to the Heat on July 14, 2004. The Lakers had just dropped an NBA Finals series against the Detroit Pistons, and it was from there that some issues between him and Bryant started to brew. The duo had experienced well-documented conflicts during their championship run, but it was after the '04 finals loss that it came down to a split.
The Lakers shipped O'Neal off to South Beach, where he played for four years. In 2006, O'Neal would win his fourth ring alongside a very young Dwyane Wade, and the Heat's first championship. That was 20 years ago, but both Wade and O'Neal still talk often about it today.
On Monday night, the Heat played the Atlanta Hawks, and it was also their exclusive party honoring the achievement in '06. During a media session, both Wade and O'Neal were asked about their championship together, and O'Neal said that the title was his favorite over the other four he would have in his career.
“I’m going to throw a word out there that’s probably going to shock the basketball world,” O’Neal said. “It’s my favorite one because we were not supposed to win and it was one that I was pressured to win. I needed to get it done before the other guy got his fourth.”
There you have it, Heat fans. Shaq's most memorable title run came in Miami, not in Los Angeles. Of course, he isn't disrespecting Kobe in any way. The two would mend their relationship years after their respective retirements, and all the water was under the bridge from that point on.
What Kobe and Shaq did with the Lakers was immortalized, and it's never happened again, and it will likely never happen again because of what Wade said in that presser. It is incredibly hard to win an NBA championship, never mind two or three in a row. He knows that more than most because he won two with LeBron James in Miami, but never a third.
It's nice to hear O'Neal speak of his time with the Heat in this light, especially considering that he and Pat Riley never saw eye to eye. That said, winning a championship doesn't need everyone getting along; it just needs everything else.