Kobe Bryant’s arm is still in a sling, but in his eyes that doesn’t mean anything—he’s still the best player in the league. The March 2015 cover star tells us what he misses the most about the NBA from the late ’80s and who he thinks is the most stylish player is in the game today.
Yeah. I was like fuck Shaq. I’m out here busting my ass. I’m killing myself.” And it became insulting. Because I chose to extend my deal with the Lakers to play with Shaquille O’ Neal and win championships. I knew what I could have done individually. I could have gone to another team and averaged 35 points a game. I could have gone anywhere and destroyed people. I gave that up to win championships. So it was infuriating to hear people say I was selfish. It was very, very maddening. Shaq was charming. The perception of him was exactly that. Now it’s not.
The city of L.A. knows me now, and they know who I am. But at the time, the perception was that Kobe was trying to break up the team. That was wrong. I am a maniacal worker, and if you’re not working as hard as I am, I am going to let you know about it. That’s why Shaq and I still have a good relationship: He knows I have zero fear of him. I would tell him what he was doing and what he wasn’t doing. And vice versa. There were times when we absolutely could not stand each other. We could not be in the same room together. But we challenged the shit out of each other.”