Shaquille O'Neal Once Slapped Kobe Bryant. Here's Why

The incident in question took place early in January 1999, just as the NBA and its players' union were about to end a protracted stalemate and agree to the terms of a new collective bargaining agreement (via CNN Money). During the lockout, many NBA players kept themselves busy through pickup games in their area; these

The incident in question took place early in January 1999, just as the NBA and its players' union were about to end a protracted stalemate and agree to the terms of a new collective bargaining agreement (via CNN Money). During the lockout, many NBA players kept themselves busy through pickup games in their area; these gatherings were ostensibly informal but nonetheless competitive at times. But for the Los Angeles Lakers, the real competition was between Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant as the veteran center and still-teenaged shooting guard were vying for alpha dog status within the Purple and Gold.

As explained by Jeff Pearlman in his book "Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty," O'Neal was getting tired of dealing with Bryant's supposedly me-first attitude on and off the court. Bryant, meanwhile, made it clear from day one that he wasn't going to be treated like a kid despite joining the NBA straight out of high school. And it allegedly didn't matter to him that Shaq was considered a leader in the Los Angeles locker room. "[Lakers general manager] Jerry West wanted that, Shaq wanted that," L.A. Times sportswriter J.A. Adande told Pearlman (via ESPN). "But Kobe always bristled at that. He was no man's little brother."

While Bryant wasn't with the Lakers to make friends, O'Neal took a different approach to things, as Pearlman wrote. He told the author that he "wanted a relationship that he wasn't really interested in." That set the stage for the confrontation between the two Lakers stars at a pickup game at Southwest College in Los Angeles.

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