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If Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant learned nothing else last season, it is
that largeness is not always -- indeed not often -- accompanied by largess. The
cream-filled, nutmeg-laced, sequined custard pie that is the Los Angeles Lakers
in the Phil Jackson era grew so big after winning its first title in 2000 that
the first half of the 2000-01 season saw the team's two biggest stars unwilling
to share it. By January O'Neal was cryptically threatening not to play defense
if he didn't get the ball more and both players had reportedly requested to be
traded. But enlightenment being the third pillar of Zen, Shaq and Kobe duly
lightened up. Bryant's newfound generosity placated O'Neal and helped the Lakers
close the regular season with eight straight wins. L.A. breezed through the
playoffs as no team had before, its only loss in 16 games coming in overtime to
the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. In the Sixers, the Lakers
faced an opponent that had settled its own family feud, between coach Larry
Brown and league scoring leader and MVP Allen Iverson, incorrigible on the court
but, as we learned, not off it. Iverson's trademark became not missed practices
and defiance of authority but an oversized sleeve to protect the bursitis in his
right elbow, a symbol of the spindle-legged Answer's resolve in the face of
bumps, bruises and many a baseline spill. The Lakers, though, proved to be a
mountain too high. O'Neal and Bryant's 59.9 combined postseason scoring average
was the highest for any title-winning duo; Hollywood, it turns out, was big
enough for the both of them. Said an understated Shaq, "Kobe and I got on
the same page, and once that happened it was pretty much all over for the rest
of the league."
--Jamal
Greene
Sports Illustrated, June 25, 2001: Double Dip
CNNSI.com: Shaquille O'Neal scrapbook
Video Box: Shaq and the Lakers get funky with L.A. fans 
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Photographs by Walter Iooss Jr., Manny Millan, John Biever
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