Latest news with #KobeBryant
Time of India
a day ago
- Sport
- Time of India
Shaquille O'Neal's Son Shareef O'Neal Reveals His Favorite NBA Idol and It Is Not His HOFer Father
Shaquille O'Neal and his son Shariff O'Neal (Image via Getty) At the 2025 ESPYs, Shareef O'Neal—son of NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal —made headlines with a refreshingly honest revelation: his favorite NBA player isn't his father. In a lighthearted and candid interview, Shareef revealed that LeBron James holds the top spot in his basketball heart, followed by Kobe Bryant , with Shaq himself coming in third. Though some fans may have been surprised by the ranking, Shareef O'Neal's explanation came with good humor and no family drama. According to Shareef, his father has never had an issue with it. In fact, Shaquille O'Neal supported his son's admiration for these all-time greats by personally introducing him to both Kobe Bryant and LeBron James over the years. Considering the impact both LeBron James and Kobe Bryant have had on the sport—and on Shareef O'Neal's growth as a player—the ranking makes sense. Shareef grew up during the peak of LeBron's career and saw firsthand the brilliance of Kobe Bryant. Shaquille O'Neal, meanwhile, famously played alongside both players: winning three consecutive championships with Kobe on the Lakers (2000–2002) and teaming up with LeBron during the 2009–2010 season with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Shaq and LeBron in the Cavaliers (Image via Getty) In a memorable moment from his childhood, Shareef O'Neal even attended his father's games while wearing a LeBron James jersey, a clear sign of the genuine admiration he's held for the NBA superstar since a young age. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like How to Trade ETH/USD Without Holding Ether IC Markets Learn More Undo While navigating his own basketball journey—with stints at UCLA and LSU and workouts with teams like the Lakers—Shareef has openly cited LeBron's leadership and dominance as major influences. Despite the weight of his father's legacy, Shareef O'Neal is determined to chart his own path, shaped by those who inspired him most on the court. His comments at the ESPYs offer a unique window into the mindset of a second-generation athlete—one who honors his roots but also embraces his own heroes. By ranking LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Shaquille O'Neal in that order, Shareef shows that appreciation in basketball can transcend bloodlines, focusing instead on personal growth, respect, and greatness. Also read: Cam Thomas Claps Back At ESPN's Zach Lowe: Inside the Brooklyn Nets Guard's Fiery Response to NBA Analyst Criticism Ultimately, the story highlights more than just a ranking—it showcases a supportive, modern father-son relationship and the deep, lasting influence basketball icons like LeBron James and Kobe Bryant continue to have on younger generations, even those raised in the shadow of NBA royalty. Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
"I'd pull him to the sideline and start saying, 'Hey, don't try to do too much yet'"- Phil Jackson on when he realized he couldn't treat Kobe Bryant the same way he did Michael Jordan
"I'd pull him to the sideline and start saying, 'Hey, don't try to do too much yet'"- Phil Jackson on when he realized he couldn't treat Kobe Bryant the same way he did Michael Jordan originally appeared on Basketball Network. Phil Jackson's career as an NBA head coach gave him the rare and possibly impossible to replicate task of managing not one, but two fiercely driven superstars with eerily similar skill sets and even more explosive competitive fire. Hint: they both were glabrous above and stuck their tongue out as adrenaline roared. However, as the years unfolded and the rings stacked up, Jackson began to understand that similarity in playstyle didn't mean sameness in personality — or coaching approach. Holding him back Jackson first arrived in Los Angeles when Kobe Bryant was barely 21. The young guard was already a three-time NBA All-Star, known for his aggressive scoring instincts and almost maniacal obsession with the game. Phil wasn't walking into a developmental situation; he was walking into a fire that had already been lit. He just had to tone it down a little bit. "I had a relationship with Kobe that started 21, 20 years of age when I got to the Lakers," Jackson recalled. "And it was like he was there to learn and he was very attentive. When the game started going, I had to kind of hold him back at times, because he would go out and he'd want to get himself in a situation. "I'd pull him to the sideline and start saying, 'Hey, don't try to do too much yet." Bryant's will to dominate every second of play was aimed at control. He believed in his ability to bend games to his will and he wanted that responsibility early, every night. Jackson had to temper that instinct without muting it. A balancing act he hadn't dealt with in quite the same way during Michael Jordan's formative years. Jackson once famously called Bryant "uncoachable," but it wasn't a slight. It was an acknowledgment of a fundamental truth: The Los Angeles Lakers icon may have mirrored Jordan's game and approach to offense almost to the detail, but internally, he burned with something different — something sharper and more consuming. Jackson had sculpted the greatest dynasty of the 1990s around Jordan's brilliance. Walking into the Lakers' locker room in 1999 with the triangle offense and Jordan-tested wisdom in hand wasn't a guaranteed formula for control. And perhaps that was the key difference. The Chicago Bulls legend had matured into a surgical closer by the time Jackson took over the Bulls in 1989. Bryant, by contrast, was still trying to carve his identity out of the Jordan mold while fighting to assert himself alongside Shaquille O'Neal, one of the most dominant big men in league for the system Jackson's approach to coaching was built around the triangle offense, a system designed to maximize team cohesion and minimize ego-driven, one-on-one play. Before he arrived in Chicago, Jordan was the best individual player in the league. He had already claimed a Defensive Player of the Year, five scoring titles and an MVP — brilliant, but incomplete as the Bulls were playoff casualties. Jackson helped him understand that less can lead to more, the same thing he wanted Bryant to learn early on. "That's one of the reasons I brought Michael and said, 'Wait until the fourth quarter," Jackson said. "Wait until there is a need and the game demonstrates that there is a need for individual action, then go into your game and go into the things you can do well." It was a system built on trust. Trust the offense. Trust the team. And the moments of brilliance will still find you. Jordan embraced it, even as his scoring average dipped from 37.1 points per game in 1987 to a more sustainable 31.5 by 1992. But those years brought championships — six of them. Bryant, though, wasn't just trying to win. He was trying to define himself. When Jackson implemented the same structure with the Lakers, he initially chafed. In his eyes, holding back was self-limiting. Phil wanted him to wait for the right moment. Bryant wanted to be in the moment. Still, the system worked. From 2000 to 2002, the Lakers won three straight titles. Bryant adjusted enough to fit, learned when to dominate and when to defer. But friction remained. Even in later years, when Jackson returned to L.A. in 2005, the tension between Bryant's hyper-focused individuality and Jackson's system-first ideology never fully dissolved. It simply evolved. By the time Bryant won two more titles in 2009 and 2010, he had fully taken on the closer role Jackson once reserved for Jordan. But unlike the five-time MVP, Bryant never quite accepted being just a piece of the system. He respected it, but he never surrendered to it. That was the compromise. And it story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 17, 2025, where it first appeared.
Fox News
2 days ago
- Sport
- Fox News
Dodgers Having Kobe Bryant Bobblehead Giveaway For Lakers Legend
Arguably the most popular athlete to play in Los Angeles, the Dodgers are commemorating late Lakers legend Kobe Bryant with a bobblehead giveaway on Friday, Aug. 8, when they host the Toronto Blue Jays. The first 40,000 fans in attendance will receive the Bryant bobblehead, according to the Los Angeles Times. A distinct giveaway, the bobblehead features Bryant in home Lakers attire (yellow jerseys and shorts with a purple stripe) in the batter's box at Dodger Stadium wearing blue cleats. The color theme is a combination of both traditional Lakers and Dodgers colors. Bryant, who spent his entire 20-year career with the Lakers (1996-97 season to 2015-16 season), helped the franchise win five NBA championships. He was the 2007-08 NBA MVP, a two-time NBA Finals MVP, two-time scoring champion, a 12-time All-Defensive honoree and 15-time All-NBA honoree. Bryant is first in Lakers history with 33,643 points — which ranks fourth in NBA/ABA history — 1,827 3-pointers, 1,944 steals and 1,346 games played and second with 6,306 assists. As for the two L.A. teams, the Dodgers own the best record in the National League this season at 56-38, while the Lakers are coming off a first-round playoff exit at the hands of Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
"Mr. Bryant is going to get a little discouraged with getting no touches" - Chauncey Billups broke down a brilliant plan that led to Detroit shocking L.A. in the 2004 Finals
"Mr. Bryant is going to get a little discouraged with getting no touches" - Chauncey Billups broke down a brilliant plan that led to Detroit shocking L.A. in the 2004 Finals originally appeared on Basketball Network. In the summer of 2003, when future Hall of Famers Gary Payton and Karl Malone signed with the Los Angeles Lakers, nearly everyone was convinced that Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant were on their way to a fourth title in five years. Phil Jackson's squad had just added two seasoned veterans, both eager to crown their brilliant careers with a championship ring. But not even in their wildest dreams could they have imagined that the Detroit Pistons would rip that trophy out of their hands. Alongside the 2011 Dallas Mavericks, this title is widely considered one of the most unlikely championships ever and Finals MVP Chauncey Billups has explained the brilliant plan Detroit had for Kobe Bryant, the biggest outside threat on the Lakers. This was the most important thing they had to do in order to shock the more talented opponent. "We're telling Ben [Wallace] the whole time, 'Take fouls when you need to, but don't get yourself into foul trouble," Billups said. "If you need to give up a layup, cool — we're going to get what we want on the other side. What's going to happen is Mr. Bryant is going to get a little discouraged with getting no touches." "Then, when the second half comes around, he's pressing. He's going to start coming down the court and just breaking the offense. When you do that, you're done — you're playing right into our hands. Even if you start making those shots, you're finished." The Lakers leaned too heavily on Bryant and Shaq At that point, Shaq's dominance had just started to decline a bit — though he was still a beast — while the Black Mamba was entering his prime, hungry to prove he was the true alpha of the team. In that series, Bryant ended up taking 29 more shots than O'Neal, finishing with just 38 percent from the field while averaging 22.2 points per game. Shaq, on the other hand, was phenomenal, putting up 26.6 points on 63.1 percent shooting. Even though they had two proven veterans in Payton and Malone, the Lakers leaned too heavily on Bryant and Shaq isolation plays. Kobe himself took the blame for the Finals loss. "On the Pistons thing, that's my fault because I didn't get us prepared to run our automatics," Bryant admitted. "I didn't get Gary, I didn't get Karl, I didn't get the new guys on board enough to be able to execute properly and we got to Detroit; it forces us to play our offense 94 feet and we weren't ready and we couldn't do it and everything just capitulated from there and that still sits with me, 'cause we should have won that."That team fell apart quickly It's hard to argue with Kobe's point when you look at the numbers — Malone averaged just 7.3 points in that series, while Payton chipped in only 4.2, with the two shooting a combined 33 percent from the field. You get the feeling the Lakers could've gotten a lot more from those vets — if only the offense had been more balanced. In the end, that team fell apart quickly. One of the most dominant duos in NBA history — Shaq and Kobe — split up soon after. For years, rumors swirled that Kobe believed he should be the team's number one option, while Shaq let his play do the talking. It felt like everything came to a head in that series and Billups and the Pistons brilliantly capitalized on it with a tactical plan that only deepened the divide between the two future Hall of story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 17, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
"He was trying to let Mike know that he is the next one" - Brendan Haywood recalls Kobe trying to make a point to MJ every time they faced off
"He was trying to let Mike know that he is the next one" - Brendan Haywood recalls Kobe trying to make a point to MJ every time they faced off originally appeared on Basketball Network. Brendan Haywood's first year with the Washington Wizards coincided with Michael Jordan's second comeback for the same team. During those years, Shaquille O'Neal was the most dominant player in the NBA. However, Haywood revealed that each time the Los Angeles Lakers faced the Wizards, Shaq would get fewer touches and score fewer points than Kobe Bryant because the Black Mamba was always trying to play extra hard against MJ. Bryant was hailed as the next Jordan, and he took it to heart. Not only did he try to imitate Michael to the tee, but Kobe also wanted to beat him every time they faced off. Brendan particularly recalls one game where the Lakers legend really gave it to the Wizards. "Kobe would always be trying to prove a point to MJ," said Haywood. "So Shaq wasn't even getting the ball as much then because Kobe was trying to go off. I think he hit us for like 40 in a half in L.A. one time. He was trying to let Mike know that he was the next one." The symbolic passing of the torch Haywood was talking about the final head-to-head meeting between Kobe and Michael on March 28, 2003, at the Staples Center. In that game, Bryant lit up Jordan and the Wizards for 55 points on 15-29 shooting, including a scorching hot 9-13 from 3-point range and 16-18 from the free throw line. Kobe did most of his damage in the first half, scoring 42 points while making all but four of his 19 field goal attempts, including 8-11 from 3-point distance. The Lakers won that game 108-94, but it was more than just that, as many felt that game was the symbolic passing of the torch from MJ to KB. "Stackhouse was guarding Kobe," recalled Haywood. "And I love Stack, but it was anything he could do with Kobe that night. He was on one because you could tell he was playing against Mike, and he wants to let Mike know, almost kind of how like Ant-Man wanted to let Kevin Durant know what was up last year. That's how it was. We're watching it, and we just can't believe this dude is going off. Jerry Stackhouse is playing excellent defense but Kobe is just in one of those zones. Nothing Stack can do with him." But Kobe had a motive for that performance However, unknown to many at the time, Bryant had a motive to light up Jordan and his Wizards that night. That's because Kobe was a shoe free agent in 2002-03 and was wearing different silhouettes from different brands. Nike gave him player exclusives of Air Jordan, and during the Lakers' first meeting with the Wizards that season, MJ infamously triggered his copycat with a brave statement. "In Washington, Jordan hits him on the butt and says, 'You can put the shoes on, but you ain't gonna never fill them. You're never gonna fill these shoes.' Kobe didn't talk to the team for two weeks," Arenas continues. "They said, 'Phil, what's up with Kobe? He mad at us?' (Phil says) 'Nah, he ain't mad at you.' They already knew what was about to happen when MJ came to L.A…Give him 55," said ex-Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas. In their first meeting that year, Jordan scored 25 points as the Wizards upset the Lakers 100-99 in Washington. Bryant scored 27 and took the loss badly. But MJ insulting him about wearing his shoes made KB circle their next meeting on his calendar. Coincidentally, that next meeting was their last, motivating Kobe even more. And so, wearing an Air Jordan 8 player exclusive, the Black Mamba, showed that he was not only worthy to wear the shoe but also deserving of becoming the next face of the story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 21, 2025, where it first appeared.
