Kobe, Shaq and the Greatest Myth in the NBA: A Look Back at the Lakers 3 Peat

By Jonathan M. Morales

There’s a prevailing myth circulating around out there.  Like a plastic bag floating on the wind it never really lands or stays in one place for very long.  Instead, it chooses to ride the tailwind created by one of the NBA’s brightest stars.   From year to year, from milestone to milestone, this myth lingers on.   No crossover can shake it.  No burst of speed or one-legged take off can leave it behind.   Its shadow is cast over everything this star has done and will do throughout the remainder of his career.  And unfortunately for Kobe Bryant, this shadow also happens to bear a striking resemblance to a certain three-hundred pound former teammate, now wearing Celtic Green.

This myth and its never-quite-in-playing-shape shadow is the commonly accepted notion that Bryant was merely a stowaway aboard the USS Shaquille O’neal which sailed the Los Angeles Lakers to championship runs in 2000, 2001 and 2002.  This myth is found in every storyline attached to Bryant.   It hides behind all the accomplishments of his early years and has latched on to every success he has earned since.   Like the “p.s.” at the end of a break-up text from the girl you thought was “the one,” it serves as the haunting last words that have defined his career.

Win your fourth NBA championship….well, the first 3 don’t really count because you had Shaq.

Win your fifth…see previous comments. 

Win your second Final’s MVP award…Shaq’s got more!

Score 81 points in one game and 62 (through three quarters!) in another…well, see, you are a ball-hog…guess Shaq was right all along! 

Take a team starting Smush Parker and Kwame Brown to the brink of a playoff win over the NBA’s most exciting team and league MVP…you pouted in game 7, so it doesn’t mean anything except you can’t win without Shaq.

(In case you missed that last one:  Smush Parker AND Kwame Brown!)

On and on it goes.  No matter what Bryant does, the shadow of the past is there to remind him that it all started because of Shaq.  That his early success doesn’t really count because he had the fortune of playing alongside the most dominant center ever (self proclaimed that is). Hell, you could have even put me out there next to Shaq and the results would have been the same, or so the argument goes. 

This didn’t used to be the case.   Stars were never expected to win it all by themselves-even if that star’s name is Lebron James (to James’ surprise even HE couldn’t get it done by himself).  Nor, did it ever matter who the alpha dog was.   Think Magic could have won without Kareem?  Think Kareem was more crucial to those five titles than Magic?  Could either one or the both of them have beaten Boston without Big Game James?

Every championship team going back to the 1980s (Timmy’s Spurs and  Olajuwon’s Rockets excluded) featured more than one bona-fide star.  Dr. J needed Maurice Cheeks and Moses.   Bird had McHale, Parish and DJ.  Isiah had Joe D., Rodman and The Microwave, Vinnie Johnson.  Jordan (yes, even MJ needed help) had Pippen, Rodman and Horace Grant.

None of them did it alone and none of them could have done it without the help of their teammates.   

And yet the Shaq/Kobe myth persists. It’s as if by diminishing Bryant’s accomplishments this myth, and those who propagate it, hopes to substantiate the argument that he doesn’t belong in the conversation with Jordan, Magic, and Lebron (who, according to ESPN, officially passed Bird after his junior year in High School) as the greatest ever. You could even say that the expectation of having to win one by yourself, or as the alpha-dog, was created specifically to separate Bryant from the other all time greats.

You see, this expectation never pulled on Magic’s short shorts.  It never acted as the force of gravity demanding Jordan come down from his frequent flights.  This expectation never tarnished their careers, their accomplishments or any of the eleven shiny championship rings they share between them.  Magic needed Kareem. Jordan had to have Pip.  All great players need help, even Lebron James.

Greatness and winning will always go hand-in-hand. And to be considered among the game’s greatest ever you need not just win, but to lead others there as well.

This is the reason why a player like Karl Malone, among the NBA’s greatest in terms of points scored, seasons played without injury and all-around studliness, will never sniff the rarified air that belongs to Jordan, Magic and Lebr…oops, correction, Jordan, Magic and Larry Bird.  Malone was great, but he never won rings.  It’s also the reason why players like Bird, Isiah and Dr. J will always be held just a rung below the top….yes they won championships, but not as many as Magic or Michael.

The original goal of this article was to insert statistical evidence here to prove without a doubt that while O’neal did dominate the Finals from 2000-2002, that it was Bryant who pushed the Lakers past the real title contenders in the Western Conference Finals. We all remember what Shaq did during the Finals, but really, did the Pacers or Nets even have centers on their teams in 2000 and 2002?  And does anyone really know how old Dikembe Mutumbo was in 2001?  

My theory was simple: unlike the stiffs he faced in the Finals, the WCF is where O’neal actually faced some stiff competition. Thus, his numbers and impact would take a slight dip and in one swoop clearly point to Kobe as the main catalyst for propelling the Lakers to a mini-dynasty and discounting the myth that Shaq did it all by himself.

That was what I was hoping for.  Unfortunately, after analyzing the numbers, the statistics just aren’t on my side.  Kobe was no slouch, but Shaq truly was a beast!  He was dominant in every sense of the word.

Still, statistics often fail to tell the whole story.  Memory, with a little help from YouTube, reminds us that in some of most pressure-filled, series-deciding moments of those years, that it was Bryant who became the Skipper and O’neal who was relegated to the role of  Gilligan.

It was Bryant that steered the ship passed the Blazers in 2000 with a crossover that Pippen is still recovering from and an alley-oop pass that somehow found The Big Catcher’s Glove to seal a remarkable 4^th quarter come-back.   It was Bryant who went into San Antonio in 2001, in a series that featured the last two NBA champs and the twin-towers of Duncan and David Robinson, and scored 45 points in game one and 28 in game two all but guaranteeing the series sweep.  It was Bryant who went into the cowbell-hell that was Sacramento’s Arco arena and delivered clutch play after clutch play in 2002 sending the Lakers to their third Finals appearance in three years. 

Most importantly, whenever the game was on the line, it was Bryant and not O’neal who had the ball in his hands.  

For in football, when your season depends on that one extra yard or, in baseball, when you simply must move a base runner into scoring position it’s the clutch players you turn to most .  From the infamous Utah airballs in the 1997 playoffs to the seven last second, game-winners in 2010, Bryant has always been that guy. No matter how O’neal dominated from tip-off to the last five minutes of the game, come “winning time,” as Magic called it, the ball was always in Bryant’s hands.

This fact alone should be enough to discredit the Shaq/Kobe myth once and for all. 

They say familiarity breeds contempt.  That maybe we’ve become desensitized to seeing so many great plays from the same great player time and time again.  Or, perhaps because his accomplishments have come so closely on the heels of MJ that we don’t fully appreciate all that Bryant has done and will do in his career. Maybe that’s why so many are so quick to crown the next “greatest ever,” before he’s actually won anything. 

Bryant has always been criticized for winning alongside O’neal, as if the accomplishment belonged to Shaq alone.   But what did O’neal ever win before he had Bryant? When O’neal left LA, it was Gasol’s turn to be the “real” reason behind Laker success.  But how far did Pau ever get in the playoffs before becoming a Laker?

Funny how things change… the same columnists that used to condemn Bryant for needing O'neal and applaud James for leading the Cavs on his own have suddenly changed thier tune.  Bryant is now condemned for winning without O'neal and James is a hero for fleeing to Miami to play with two all stars, one of whom is considered the second or third best player in the game. 

Apparently the expectation of winning one by yourself, or as the alpha-dog, applies to some but not to others. 

Unfortunately, as long as Bryant keeps on winning this myth will persist.  The shadow will go on lurking overhead attempting to block out any speck of sunshine the way it should have attempted to block shots.    But with the addition of each new championship ring the shadow gets smaller and smaller and the reflection of Bryant’s true worth gets brighter and brighter.    One day, it may finally shine bright enough to reveal the truth that championship teams need a one-two punch; one to continuously jab and weaken the opponent and one to deliver the KO.  Neither is more important than the other and neither can win the fight alone.