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Sports · The Lakers divorce · Take No. 032

Shaq or Kobe?

Three straight titles together, then a breakup the whole league took sides on. One was the most dominant force the game has seen; the other was the most relentless. Who was the Lakers' real engine?

The case for each side, then the verdict. Then the floor is yours.
The case for

Kobe Bryant

Lower Merion · Lakers · 1996–2016

  • 5Championships, two of them after the split, as the undisputed No. 1 option.
  • 81Points in one game against Toronto in 2006, the second-most in NBA history.
  • 20Seasons with one franchise, with 18 All-Star selections. The longest one-team career of its kind.
vs
The case for

Shaquille O'Neal

Newark · Magic · Lakers · Heat · 1992–2011

  • 3Consecutive Finals MVPs, 2000–2002. He, not Kobe, was the best player on the three-peat.
  • 4Rings, including one in Miami without Kobe, which ended the 'he needed Kobe' argument.
  • 2000MVP season: 29.7 points, 13.6 rebounds, one vote short of unanimous. Nobody could guard him.

Cast your take

——
The verdict

It's Kobe. Shaq was the best player on those teams; Kobe was the better career.

Shaq's case is honest and his fans should keep making it: on the three-peat he was the one you couldn't stop, he won all three Finals MVPs, and he got his own ring in Miami. At his peak, he was the most physically dominant player the sport has had.

But a career is more than a peak, and Kobe's is longer, more complete, and ends with two titles as the sole star. Five rings, twenty seasons, no decline years he didn't fight through. Kobe, narrowly, and Shaq owns 2000.

Disagree? That's what the buttons are for.

Next on the docket

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