Fans get it wrong as Shaquille O’Neal catches heat for posting a Rushmore basketball mount without former teammate Kobe Bryant

Shaquille O’Neal apparently catches stray animals after sharing an edited photo of a Mount Rushmore basketball as fans noticed the apparent omission from Diesel’s list.

O’Neal’s X post included the names of Hall of Famers Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, as well as future Hall of Famers LeBron James and Steph Curry. In defense of O’Neal’s stance, each of those men has the consideration of putting their face on the mountain, with Jordan and Abdul-Jabbar each having six championships and James and Curry each having 4.

O’Neal captioned the post “Who’s Missing,” leaving social media users so as to add their very own suggestions. Some have suggested swapping James and Curry for other Hall of Famers like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Tim Duncan or O’Neal himself. There was one notable name that fans almost unanimously agreed was faraway from the list, and that was Kobe Bryant.

One critic said, “Kobe, come on! I really like Curry, he’s really great, but he scores a lot of his points on screens. Kobe created his own way where he didn’t need it, he was a killer. If you wish, you may have curry on the fifth place, but not over Kobe.

Another commented: “This disrespect is so REAL and it’s all because he’s not here to say something. They know 100% that if he were still alive, they wouldn’t even put LeBron over Kobe. We will never forget what Kobe brought to the game and stayed on the team. one team and one five rings!!!”

While a large portion of fans felt that O’Neal was included on the list and was “disrespectful” to his former teammate, this is way from the reality. The former dynamic duo had a tumultuous relationship while playing together for the Los Angeles Lakers, but their time apart sparked stronger feelings inside them.

Their relationship began in 1996, when Bryant was drafted into the NBA and O’Neal was released in free agency. O’Neal’s problems with Bryant apparently began within the late Nineteen Nineties, when rumors circulated that he had turn out to be jealous of Bryant’s growing fame and irritated together with his playing style. The pair really began to argue when O’Neal arrived at training camp in 2000-2001 chubby.

As they won three championships together, their relationship deteriorated and ultimately ended when O’Neal was traded to the Miami Heat.

This separation didn’t end the dispute, especially when reports emerged that Bryant had told Colorado police who investigated him in 2004 for a sexual assault criticism that
“I should have done what Shaq is doing… that Shaq would pay his women not to say anything” and has already paid as much as $1 million “for situations like this.”

Shaq responded, telling ESPN: “I never hang out with Kobe, I’ve never hung around him. In the seven or eight years we spent together, we were never together. So how this guy can think he knows anything about me and my company is hilarious. And one last thing – I’m not the one buying love. He is the one who buys love.”

Shaq continued to taunt his former teammate within the late 2000s, however the Black Mamba had the last laugh after winning the 2010 NBA Finals. After winning, one in all his first comments was, “I’ve got one more than Shaq, so you can take that to the bank.”

After retiring in 2011, O’Neal continually praised Bryant for earning more late-career accolades. Like most NBA fans, he was devastated when Bryant and his daughter Gianna “Gigi” Bryant died in a helicopter crash on January 26, 2020.

During TNT’s tribute to Bryant, O’Neal said: “I haven’t felt pain this sharp in a while. I lost my little brother,” with tears streaming down his face.

Back in August, O’Neal added his “little brother” to his top ten basketball players. In an interview for Los Angeles TimesO’Neal said his list includes Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, himself and Bryant. He rounded out the list with Curry, Duncan, Allen Iverson, Karl Malone and Isaiah Thomas.