Just after the Los Angeles Lakers won last season's title, Kobe Bryant(notes) let slip a little comment ("I just got one more than Shaq. You can take that to the bank. You know how I am, I don't forget anything.") that proved what a lot of people had suspected for years — the Kobe/Shaq feud isn't over. As much as they'll be buddy-buddy at All-Star games or before their teams play each other, these two want nothing more than to destroy each other and prove that they are the best player of their generation. No matter what they say or how they act, that's always going to be the case.
In fact, the fact that that enmity will never die is the very reason the Boston Celtics took a chance on Shaquille O'Neal(notes). No, really, it is. Just because Kobe Bryant mentioned Shaq at his postgame press conference, the Celtics inked the well-traveled big man. Seriously. The Boston Globe's Gary Washburn has the proof.
When Kendrick Perkins(notes) was felled with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in Game 6 against the Lakers, adding a big man became a priority. Shaquille O'Neal made it no secret, even in his whisper-quiet voice, that Boston was his preferred sixth NBA destination. And after a flirtation with Kwame Brown(notes), Celtics president Danny Ainge agreed with [principal owner Wyc] Grousbeck that O'Neal would be an appropriate fit.
"The minute I heard Kobe [Bryant] say he had one more ring than Shaq, I said to Danny, ‘Let's go get Shaq,' and it happened,'' said Grousbeck.
Oh, great. Now that it's come out that Kobe Bryant is the reason the Celtics ended up with Shaq, Boston fans are going to hate the Lakers superstar even more. As if they needed fuel for that fire.
