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"Shaq and I have a really, really good relationship now. We appreciate each other more now than ever," Bryant said. "The further you get away from the history that you had together, the more you put perspective on it on how dominant we were." Long Beach Press-Telegram

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal 

O'Neal won his only post-Lakers title with the Miami Heat in 2006, and it's something Bryant won't let the big man live down. "I always remind him every time I see him," Bryant, who's won five championships with the Lakers, told Yahoo! Sports. "I saw him after the All-Star Game and said, 'How you doing, 'Four' ?' He said, 'Oh, you [expletive].' [Our relationship is] really good now. We have such a mutual respect for each other." Yahoo! Sports

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal 

"It was inevitable," Bryant said. "You can't expect Michael [Jordan] to play with Wilt [Chamberlain] for his entire career. That's just not going to work. I had too much talent and too much to showcase. And then there was a challenge issued by him about me not being able to win without him. That's a challenge I couldn't pass. "But ultimately during those years I sacrificed a lot, numbers-wise, to play with him. The thing that always bothered me was people said, 'Well, Kobe's selfish.' I'm not selfish. If I was selfish, I would have left. I gave up a lot to play with him." Yahoo! Sports

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal 

What if the Lakers had chosen O'Neal over Bryant? "I would have went some place else and won more championships," Bryant said. "That's how driven I was. I was just that obsessed about winning without him. Everything was about that. I was obsessive about it and there was nothing that was going to get in my way." Yahoo! Sports

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal 

Monday, Mike D'Antoni said Shaquille O'Neal "changed basketball," and explained it this way: "Everything you do, if you're preparing against his team, you talked about Shaq 90 percent of the time. You have to prepare for how not to leave his body, when you're going to double team. Are you going to hack him? Are you going to do this, are you going to do that? There's very few guys you spend the whole scouting meeting talking about, and he was one of those guys." Sulia

Los Angeles Lakers, Shaquille O'Neal, Mike D'Antoni 

D'Antoni, who coached Shaq in '07-'08, said he enjoyed the experience. "He was good for us," he said, before relaying his most vivid memories of O'Neal. "Him running around the locker room, crazy. Funny. Him driving the big semi-trailer cab and blowing his horn all over the place. He just does everything at a grand scale, and he was fun to be with. He was good." "One of the best ever." Sulia

Los Angeles Lakers, Shaquille O'Neal, Mike D'Antoni 

Kevin Ding: For @SHAQ No. 34 retirement halftime ceremony Tuesday, Lakers fans get to show love also for @PhilJackson11. He and @JeanieBuss will speak. Twitter @KevinDing

Los Angeles Lakers, Shaquille O'Neal 

Kevin Ding: Although @Kobe Bryant will be in the locker room in the team meeting, he will record some words of tribute for @Shaquille O'Neal to be played. Twitter @KevinDing

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal 

"It may be tough for him," conceded Bryant. "He's a very, very nice kid, you know what I mean? He wants to say the right thing. He wants to please as many people as he can. And you can't please everybody. I'll talk to him about it a little bit, before we get down to Orlando. Try to put a little bit of that a--hole in him before the game." Kobe also squashed any similarities to Howard's return and the first time Shaquille O'Neal played against the Magic. "Shaq didn't give a s---," laughed Bryant. Sulia

Los Angeles Lakers, Orlando Magic, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Dwight Howard 

To promote his new show “Upload with Shaquille O'Neal,” the former Lakers star appeared on CBS“This Morning” Tuesday and had some tough criticism for his formal rival. “I think we as people should understand our roles in life,” Mr. O'Neal said. “And I think certain people should leave the diplomacy to diplomats. It was a very, very risky move what he did.” Mr. Rodman defended his trip to North Korea on ABC’s “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos Sunday, calling Kim Jong-Un a “great guy” and “very humble.” Washington Times

Shaquille O'Neal, Dennis Rodman, North Korea 

Garciduenas was the guy in charge of procuring and maintaining a selection of Shaquille O'Neal's size-23 shoes. To illustrate the uniqueness of such footwear, he would occasionally wear one of Shaq's shoes on his head. In appreciation of his work, O'Neal helped him buy a truck whose license plates eventually read, "THNX SHAQ." Garciduenas was the guy who purchased and transported the special high chair that creaky Phil Jackson would require on the bench. He was the guy running for the white towel to cover up Robert Horry when a broken drawstring dropped his pants to his knees in Sacramento. He was the guy hurriedly stitching the corners of a name onto a jersey of a hastily acquired player and praying they would not fall off until a seamstress arrived the next day to make them permanent. "We all love Rudy, all of us; you can't find a single person who doesn't love the guy," Lakers spokesman John Black said. Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Lakers, Phil Jackson, Shaquille O'Neal, Jerry Buss, Rudy Garciduenas 

Dave McMenamin: Light moment from Shaq: "I wanted a 1st extension, he gave it to me ... 2nd extension, gave it to me ... 3rd extension, traded me" Twitter @mcten

Los Angeles Lakers, Trade, Shaquille O'Neal, Jerry Buss 

Mike Trudell: Expected to speak at the Dr. Buss Memorial Service: David Stern, Jerry West, Kareem, Magic, Phil, Shaq, Kobe & Pau (spanish). Twitter @LakersReporter

Phil Jackson, Shaquille O'Neal, Jerry West, Magic Johnson, Jerry Buss, David Stern 

Dominique Wilkins today reflected on his time with USA Basketball: "That was a great time. Dream Team II was unbelievable. That was an unbelievable team and to be with a lot of those guys, who I call characters now, Shaquille was a character. That was an unbelievable team and that was a great time to be a part of USA Basketball, to stand on that podium, to receive those gold medals pretty much killing everybody. There was nobody even close to us in that World Championship series. It was fun." Facebook.com

Shaquille O'Neal, USA Basketball, World Championship, Dominique Wilkins 

A Lakers spokesman declined to comment on his condition. Several current and former Lakers players have visited Buss, including Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Magic Johnson, Jerry Buss, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 

After Tuesday's game, Kobe Bryant spoke about his relationship with Shaquille O'Neal, who was sitting courtside. "It was good to see him. I had a chance to kind of catch up with him a little bit after the Heat game here at Staples Center, and tonight we got a couple good laughs, a couple inside jokes," he said. "Shaq and I have a really, really good relationship now. It's good. It's a good lesson for all of us." Sulia

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal 

"I think we appreciate each other more now than ever," Bryant continued. "I think the further you get away from the history that you had together, the more you put perspective on it, and how dominant we were." It's interesting to hear Bryant reference himself in the clip above as a "supporting" player, who then moved into the primary role after O'Neal was shipped to Miami. Obviously neither guy wins without the other, but to hear Bryant classify himself that way was unexpected. At least for me. Sulia

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal 

Alex Kennedy: Shaquille O'Neal is killing Dwight Howard right now: "Great players play through pain. If you're so hurt, quit smiling all the time." Twitter @AlexKennedyNBA

Los Angeles Lakers, Shaquille O'Neal, Media, Dwight Howard 

Here are some reactions from national media on the Westbrook incident: TNT analyst Kenny Smith: “The (team) chemistry is fragile. I hate to walk around the locker room on eggshells when a guy does something like this. Now you can't act natural around this guy for a couple days, and that really messes your team's morale up.” TNT analyst Shaquille O'Neal: “Westbrook is one of the leaders of the team. In order to be a great leader, you have to be a great listener. He messed up. … He's wrong. He knows he's wrong. You move on.” Oklahoman

Oklahoma City Thunder, Shaquille O'Neal, Russell Westbrook, Kenny Smith 

Melissa Rohlin: Kobe on his relationship w/ Dwight: "Shaq and I honestly didn't like each other. At least Dwight and I do like each other." Twitter @melissarohlin

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Dwight Howard