"My motherf---ing team!" - Shaquille O'Neal once nearly ended Kobe Bryant's life but missed by a few inches

During the 1998 NBA lockout, LA Lakers stars Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant regularly took part in pick-up games to stay in shape. The star duo were in the early stages of their partnership at the time and had yet to win any NBA titles together.

During one pickup game, O’Neal and Bryant were pitted against each other. The game then grew so tense and competitive that the star Lakers duo got involved in an altercation over O'Neal's persistent foul calls.

Former NBA veterans Olden Polynice and Corie Blount, who were involved in the pickup game, later summarized O’Neal and Bryant’s altercation. Their story was then published in Jeff Pearlman’s book “Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty.”

“It was just another run, until it was no longer just another run. As he was prone to do in pickup, O'Neal called a series of iffy fouls whenever he missed a shot,” Pearlman wrote.

“Miss.

“‘Foul!’

“Miss.

“‘Foul!’

“‘I'm tired of this s---,’ Bryant finally said. ‘Just play.’

“‘One more comment like that,’ O'Neal snapped, ‘And I slap the s--- out of you.’

“A few possessions later, Bryant drove toward the rim, leaned into O'Neal's body, and scooped the ball beneath his raised arm and into the hoop. It was a pretty move, but nothing otherworldly.

“‘F--- you!’ he screamed at O'Neal. ‘This is my team! My motherf---ing team!’ It felt edgy. Everything stopped.

“‘He wasn't talking about the pickup team,’ Polynice recalled. ‘He was talking about the Lakers.’

“O'Neal wasn't having it. ‘No, motherf---er!’ he screamed. ‘This is my team!’

“‘F--- you!’ Bryant replied. ‘Seriously — f--- you! You're not a leader. You're nothing!’

“What did he just say?

“‘I will get your ass traded,’ O'Neal said. ‘Not a problem.’

O’Neal then proceeded to follow through on his threat to slap Bryant, with the two needing to be separated. However, the big man was only able to land one punch. According to Polynice, this saved Bryant from things ending very badly for him.

“Several of the participants stepped in to separate the two, and the game eventually continued. But it no longer felt even slightly relaxed or friendly,” Pearlman wrote.

“‘We probably went up and down the court two more times,’ Polynice said.

“Kobe goes to the basket, scores, screams at Shaq, ‘Yeah, motherf---er! That s--- ain't gonna stop me!’”

O'Neal grabbed the ball in order to freeze the action.

“‘Say another motherf---ing word,’ he said, staring directly at Bryant.

“‘Aw, f--- you,’ Bryant said. ‘You don't kn--'

“Smack! O'Neal slapped Bryant across the face. Hard.

“‘His hands are huge,’ said Blount, who was playing in the game. ‘The noise was loud.’

“There was more screaming and swinging after that, as other players stepped in to separate the two combatants. Thankfully, no other punches landed, because if there were, things would have ended badly for Bryant.

“In the words of Polynice, O'Neal was throwing a ‘I-want-to-kill-you-right-now punch.’”

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Kobe Bryant on altercation with Shaquille O’Neal during 1998 pickup game

LA Lakers legends Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant

Many years later, Kobe Bryant spoke about the infamous 1998 altercation with during a one-on-one conversation with Shaquille O’Neal himself. Bryant explained that the incident helped the big man earn his respect. The "Black Mamba" realized that O’Neal was just as competitive as he was.

“I'm looking at this and I'm saying, ‘Man, he wants this thing,’” Bryant said.

“‘It affects him. It consumes him.’ And then from that moment on, I knew we spoke the same language.”

Following their 1998 altercation, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant went on to lead the LA Lakers to three straight titles from 2000 to 2002.

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