Shaq and Kobe are playing again
Published by The Cavalier January 16th, 2006 in Shaq, Kobe Bryant, LA Lakers, Miami Heat
The Heat and Lakers go at it at the Staples Center tonight, and the overwhelming excitement hasn’t even started yet. That’s how big this is - they’re waiting until minutes before tip-off to unleash the enthusiasm. It is gonna be NUTS. Like Planters nuts, or even generic Kroger nuts. Mixed nuts.
Everyone is pretending this is just another game, and this time it seems like it’s really true. Phil Jackson thinks Shaq should just go ahead and say hello to Kobe, however.
“He’s such an emotional guy,” Jackson said of O’Neal. “It’s just not the forum for him to deal with it. He should just acknowledge Kobe.
“There’s plenty of time in their lifetimes for them to hopefully make up the distance that’s between them and the process that will happen. Until Shaq’s ready, my words aren’t going to force him alone. I don’t enjoy seeing that in his actions, but I understand his reasons.”
He understands because Phil doesn’t like Kobe either, if you can’t read between the lines. In fact, let’s take another look between the lines of the LA Times:
They acknowledged each other and all it took was inspiration from Bill Russel and MLK Jr.