Kobe rekindled his sorta friendly beef with ex-teammate Shaquille O'Neal when he said in an interview that he would have had "12 rings" if Shaq wasn't so lazy about improving his game.
In Shaq's clap back, he referenced the Lakers surprise 2004 Finals loss to the Pistons, in what would be Shaq's last year with the club before being traded to Miami
"U woulda had twelve if you passed the ball more especially in the finals against the pistons #Facts," Shaq typed.
The big man wasn't the only one who felt that way. Author Jeff Pearlman recently spoke to another one of Kobe's 2004 teammates and he said the same thing.
Interviewed a Kobe teammate for my upcoming book. We talked about 2004 Finals loss to Pistons. Much blame was placed on Karl Malone injury. Guy told me, "That loss was on Kobe. He wanted to be MVP of that series, and he just ... kept ... shooting."
— Jeff Pearlman (@jeffpearlman) August 28, 2019
It's unclear if Pearlman will reveal the name of the teammate in the book.
Do you think Kobe's ball hogging was responsible for LA's 4-1 series defeat to the Larry Brown-coached Billups/Hamilton/Prince/Wallace/Wallace Pistons?