Kobe Bryant Doesn’t Respect Shaq’s Work Ethic

The Kobe Bryant/Shaq era of the Lakers will always be mythical. People are still fascinated by it even though both have gone on to win rings without each other.

Kobe is currently on a promo tour for Nike in Italy (coincidently the home of Virtus Bologna the team currently courting his services should the lockout remain in place) and he was asked a Shaq question. Kobe’s response:

“I like players who work for 6 or 7 hours per day. I can’t tolerate players who practice just for 30 minutes. If you don’t work out, I need to tell you something.”

My question, why is this shocking? We’ve known for years that practice wasn’t as important to Shaq as it was to Kobe (and other players too.) I wonder what it is about this particular relationship that people can’t let go of. Maybe it’s because secretly, both of them are still fascinated by it. Oh well, now we wait for Shaq to fire back. Because you know he will…