Shaq vs Kobe

[Nick Young]

Ok Shaq apparently "carried" kobe to 3 rings

AND YET
Kobe has 2 rings without Shaq and is likely to get his third this year
Shaq has only one ring without Kobe, and he needed what many call a ref aided Dwayne Wade performance to get that one Kobe-less ring.


It's time to rexamine the past and view the true reality.

It looks like Kobe was the one carrying Shaq when you look at things like this

[DonCorleone]

Shaquille Rashuan O'neal is better.

/thread

[aj242]

Ok Shaq apparently "carried" kobe to 3 rings

AND YET
Kobe has 2 rings without Shaq and is likely to get his third this year
Shaq has only one ring without Kobe, and he needed what many call a ref aided Dwayne Wade performance to get that one Kobe-less ring.


It's time to rexamine the past and view the true reality.

It looks like Kobe was the one carrying Shaq when you look at things like this

[MayCeltics]

[GiveItToBurrito]

Ok Shaq apparently "carried" kobe to 3 rings

AND YET
Kobe has 2 rings without Shaq and is likely to get his third this year
Shaq has only one ring without Kobe, and he needed what many call a ref aided Dwayne Wade performance to get that one Kobe-less ring.


It's time to rexamine the past and view the true reality.

It looks like Kobe was the one carrying Shaq when you look at things like this

Shaq carried Kobe to those rings because he was in his prime and Kobe hadn't peaked. Anyone who's watched prime Shaq knows that he was the most unstoppable monster in the league for like six or eight years. And there's no shame in being the second banana to a top five center in his prime, especially when it was when you were like 21 or 22.

EDIT Also, I hate the idea of one superstar "carrying" another star to a title. Kobe wouldn't have won without Shaq, but Shaq wouldn't have won without Kobe. Shaq probably could have won with a slightly worse second banana than Kobe, but it's not like Kobe was just some role player on that team. Shaq carried guys like Horry and Fisher to titles, Kobe was the second most important part of those teams. It's almost like saying Garnett carried Pierce to a title, it's only something someone intentionally looking to push an agenda or say something provocative would say. EDIT

[Optimus Prime]

Nobody carried anybody to any rings. Kobe and Shaq were both very, very good during the Lakers three-peat, with Kobe being the possible "sidekick" for their first championship only. Shaq was the "sidekick" to D-Whistle for Miami's ring, but he was still at the end of his prime. No carrying going on in any case.

People just say that because they want to hate on Kobe or Shaq. Objective fans can see that both afro-Kobe and prime-Shaq were beasts, and if their egos could have been subdued, who knows how many championships that Lakers team could have won?

[Stillatitdamnit]

[KingLeBronJames]

It's true. Kobe carried Shaq in the Playoffs up until the Finals. Kobe was dominant in the Playoffs but not in the Finals.

[KB2clutch]

they carried equal weight on during the threepeat. Kobe was playoffs mvp but shaq had bigger mismatches in the finals which is why he won the finals mvp. But both are the two most dominant players to play in the nba

[G-Funk]

Nobody carried anyone...They did it together...ppl just say "he carried" cause they r jealous fans, and are just hating.

[G-Funk]

It's true. Kobe carried Shaq in the Playoffs up until the Finals. Kobe was dominant in the Playoffs but not in the Finals.

IMO the championships where won in the West...Lakers used their best mismatched in the Finals(Shaq)... The Kings, Spurs, Portland>>>anything coming out East.

[Nick Young]

Nobody carried anyone...They did together...ppl just say "he carried" cause they r jealous fans, and are just hating.

exactly.

[Colby Brian]

rite now i think shaq is higher on the all time list, but kobe still has a chance to pass him tho, kobe has a chance to win 1 or 2 more rings, hes only 32 years old

[griffmoney1784]

1. the mvp is the guy who has to carry the team late in games

- shaq was on the bench for allot of the endings in the playoffs because of hackashaq
- when have you ever seen shaq hit a game winner
- the leader in fga's ( aka #1 option ) was kobe for 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 )
- kobe had the better wcf's average in 2001 and 2002 and the better overall playoffs in 2001


2. shaq has never done anything as lead dog without an elite kobe

- no mvps
- no championships
- no finals mvps

he averaged 25+ppg/10+reb ( or close to ) from 1992,1993,1994,1995,1996,1997,1998,1999,2005 as lead dog

and still never got it done

3. kobe without shaq as lead dog in just 6 years has

- 1 mvp
- 3 nba finals
- 2 nba championships ( back to back )
- 2 finals mvps


4. kobe is the better defender. in a near 20 year career shaq has NEVER made 1st team all defense

kobe has made it 8 times. ( and atleast 6 of them are undisputable )


5. Kobe was never dumped by a team or made enimys with a team

shaq has been dumped or made enimys with

- orlando
- los angeles
- miami
- phoenix
- cleveland


6. kobe only made enimys with one guy in his career while playing with them.

- shaq

shaq has made enimys with a guy from every team hes played on

- penny
- kobe
- wade
- nash
- lebron


7. kobe never let himself gain 100 pounds of fat, kobe never told his team he wouldnt guard the house if he wasnt fed, kobe never held the owner at gun point for 30 million dollars.

and finally

8. kobe won a championship without a top 250 all time player in pau gasol.

shaq has never won as lead dog without a second option in the top 10 all time.

[Laker19]

Obviously Shaq was better and played a big role, but Kobe was a legit second option puting up number one option numbers. Its a team game, Kobe is apart of the team just like Shaq was. There's so many great second and third options that won multiple rings who weren't nearly as good as the first option yet their rings don't get an asterisk.