'I Looked at it Differently: It Did Work Out'

Relationships, conflict, heated emotions and success in spite of it

Hall of Famers Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, while they were teammates in 2004. (Image Credit: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

Our perceptions, especially if from afar, might be narrow minded as far as how people are or are not getting along and how well or not their relationship is going. We may not really understand the reality.

Decades ago, the Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant professional basketball work partnership was strained. It stressed the organization. Eventually there was a breakup.

The common narrative has been what if two historically great performers could have resolved their animosity and continued to be great together. As it was, their egos led to a failed relationship. Yet, was that a correct depiction of what transpired?

Virgil Villanueva recently wrote an article that paints the perception in a different light.

John Black, the Los Angeles Lakers vice president of public relations, reframed it in a way that he felt was more reflective of history.

"I've said this a million times to media guys: When it ended, it was portrayed as extremely disappointing and how could we let it happen that Shaq and Kobe couldn't work things out," he said via Bleacher Report.

"I looked at it differently. It did work out,” Black asserted. “They spent eight years together and they didn't like each other and it was difficult, and that thing could've ended in two years or three years. It could've gone sour earlier.