Shaquille O'Neal Afraid Bynum Will Overshadow Him

In my article a couple of days ago, "Shaquille O'Neal a hypocrite? You Make the Call," I quoted Shaq's comment about Kobe Bryant after Kobe won the MVP and before the title series with the Celtics.

"He's been great all year. He was great in the playoffs and he's showing everyone what he's made of. He's on the verge of being the latest great one with four rings. He's come a long way. All I can say is, I'm happy for him. And I'm proud of him."

I asked if one might consider it hypocritical to make this comment and then turn around and diss Kobe in a freestyle rap that has been posted all over the internet.

After reading the responses and some of the other O’Neal stories that have been posted, I have had another thought.

First of all, I stated that the rap was most likely all done in fun without any malicious intent. It was more or less an expression of Shaq’s humor, somewhat sick as it might be.

However, in all humor underneath lies a grain of truth. But now that I have thought about, I suggest to you that it wasn’t so much O’Neal’s animosity toward Kobe but rather the fear of Andrew Bynum overshadowing O’Neal’s legacy with the Lakers that inspired the now infamous rap.

You see, Shaq knows he has no legacy at all with Miami. He probably never did. Heat fans know it was Dwayne Wade who just about single-handedly won the series against the Mavericks. They also know that Zo had as much to do with winning that championship as O’Neal did.

After all, it was Alonzo Mourning who had to spell Shaq whenever the big fellow needed a rest. Considering how out of shape O’Neal has been throughout his career, Mourning saw quite a bit of playing time.

Also, the way that O’Neal threw Pat Riley and practically the entire organization under the bus when he was traded to Phoenix left no doubt that his legacy in Miami is outrageously defamed at worst and non-existent at best.

As for Phoenix, there is little hope a Shaquille O’Neal legacy. Both Steve Kerr and Suns’ fans are counting the days until they can get rid of O’Neal’s contract.

They know that Steve Nash and Shaquille O’Neal are in the twilights of their careers. With Shawn Marion gone and Boris Diaw and Leandro Barbosa on the trading block, there is little hope of a Western Conference title let alone an NBA championship until O’Neal and his contract are gone and the Suns have some cap space.

So, the only legacy that remains for Shaq is the one he left behind in Los Angeles. But even now, many fans consider Kareem Abdul-Jabbar the greatest center in Lakers history. That was the reason that Shaq took a pot shot at Kareem as well in his rap.

O’Neal wants to be known as the greatest center in Lakers history. But down deep he know that particular legacy is all Andrew Bynum’s for the taking.

It started back in Bynum’s rookie year. Bynum still had not acquired the skills that he has today. But even then, playing against a league-leading Miami Heat, Bynum showed O’Neal he was not one to mess with. When O’Neal tried to muscle the young kid, Bynum muscled right back.

That year and the year after, it looked like Bynum was just another one of Mitch Kupchak’s bad ideas. But this year, Bynum suddenly blossomed and showed the Phoenix Suns and the NBA just what he could do.

It has been rather ironic that the greatest center in Lakers history, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has been training Bynum to bypass Shaquille O’Neal and take over Kareem’s very own legacy as the greatest center in Lakers history.

No doubt, if If Bynum fully recovers from his injury (And it looks like he will), whatever is left in Los Angeles of the Shaquille O'Neal legacy will be history by the end of next season.

Fans in Los Angeles will be agog over the Bynum-Bryant-Gasol legacy and the fact that it will roll on for a number of years.

O’Neal has kept his side of the feud with Kobe going because he knows that when Kobe is O’Neal age, he will have a lot more than just four rings, and Andrew Bynum will have shattered every one of O’Neal’s statistics (Except for lowest foul-shooting percentage)

So, Shaq used the humor of a freestyle rap to engage his anger not so much at Kobe but at what will be the legacy of Andrew Bynum and, in the end, at himself.