Shaq, Kobe Dismiss Feud

This story line is not original or entirely apt, but suddenly it is the chatter of this Laker-obsessed league: Shaq and Kobe, is this team big enough for both of them?

Even though the on-court mini-brawl between the two stars occurred a month ago during voluntary workouts and was reported in The Times three weeks ago, it became coast-to-coast gossip fodder this week after Seattle SuperSonic center Olden Polynice, present at the workout, started theorizing about the incident’s greater meanings.

The speculation: As Kobe continues to rise and Shaq watches it all happen and the Lakers struggle a bit, was the quick push-and-shove the flash point of an ego tug of war that could pull the team apart?

“It wasn’t a big deal--that’s just competitiveness coming out,” O’Neal said after Tuesday’s shoot-around. “We’re always going to be good friends. It was just a hard foul, that’s it.

“Nothing personal. You all know me; if it was personal, I would’ve let it be known a long time ago.”

O’Neal and Bryant said Bryant went flying into the lane during a pickup game, was slammed hard by O’Neal to prevent the basket, got up angrily to dispute the incivility of the foul, shoved O’Neal and got shoved back a few times.

No punches landed, and the players were quickly separated. A hard foul, they both say, and no hard feelings.

“And I guarantee you this, I’ll bet you nobody else on another team will do that to Kobe,” O’Neal said, “especially while I’m here.”

Bryant chuckled Tuesday when the recent wave of Shaq-vs.-Kobe reporting was brought up to him.

When you have two young, enormously high-profile players together, when you have a team that hasn’t yet hit its stride, when you have a giant hunger for news about the Lakers in a league famous for intra-team feuds, this stuff is bound to be stirred up, Bryant said.

“It’s natural [to be talked about] especially with what happened with him and Penny [Hardaway in Orlando], whatever, and they broke that team up,” Bryant said. “If people want to think that Shaq and I have the egos and blah, blah, blah. . . .

“I really don’t care. People can say whatever they want. Bottom line, 12, 15 years down the line, people are going to say, damn, that was a great team! We’re not going anywhere.”

Both players suggested the real story is far more subtle than the simple jealousy angle.

“Shaq and I, we’re going to be around each other so long, it’d be unrealistic to think we wouldn’t get into a fight once in 20 years,” Bryant said.

“We got into an argument. I think if anything, we might’ve gained more respect for one another. You know Shaq wasn’t going to back down. So I wasn’t going to back down.

“I gained a lot more respect for him, and he gained a lot more respect for me. Because after that we came back and played even harder; it was his team against my team. It’s great. You need that once in a while.”

So, who’s team is this?

“Who cares, man? He’s the vocal guy, he gets everybody pumped up, everybody’s eager to play,” Bryant said. “I just go out there and play. I think it’s a perfect combination.”

Said O’Neal: “I really don’t care if you all say it’s Kobe’s team or it’s my team. When I was watching the Lakers, Kareem was the best player, but they said it was Magic’s team. And Kareem didn’t mind.

“So if you all want to think it’s Kobe’s team, I don’t give a . . . .

“I don’t have to go to dinner at everybody’s house off the court. But on the court, everybody has a job to do. If they can’t do their job, they need to get out. They need to ask to be traded or I want them to be traded.

“Kobe has stepped up. He’s playing well. He’s still learning the game. This is his third year, he’s learning the game. He’s very aggressive, he’s playing hard.”