Tyronn Lue Believes Kobe and Shaq’s Lakers Could Have Won Eight NBA Titles

In the early 2000s, the Los Angeles Lakers were the dominant force in the NBA, led by Shaquille O’Neal and a young Kobe Bryant. Together, they won three consecutive championships. Their partnership sadly ended prematurely due to irreconcilable differences, leaving fans to wonder what might have been had they stayed together longer.

Shaq remained in Los Angeles for two more seasons following their final championship win in 2002, but left for a new challenge in 2004, joining the Miami Heat. He went on to win another championship in South Beach, but how many more could he have claimed had he stayed close to Hollywood? That was the question Shannon Sharpe recently asked Tyronn Lue.

Could Shaq and Bryant have won more titles together, or were they always destined to part ways as two alphas on the same team? Lue, now the Los Angeles Clippers’ head coach, was teammates with the duo for three seasons, during which he won the 2000 and 2001 championships with the Lakers.

“Had Shaq and Kobe stayed together, let’s just say they would have had a harmonious relationship… How many championships do you think they win?” Sharpe asked on Club Shay Shay.

Lue didn’t even hesitate before giving his answer. “They could have won eight,” he stated. 

It’s a bold assumption to say the duo could have won that many. They had only captured three titles together before O’Neal left. So what made Lue believe they could have won more than twice that number? Well, he came prepared to back up his claim.

“If they had stayed together, they’d have won seven or eight championships. Couldn’t nobody could beat that duo. Somebody might have slipped up and won, you know, Detroit won. And they had a hell of a team. The job they did was phenomenal. But, okay, we leave out that year and come back the next three, nobody’s beating them,” Lue continued.

As crazy as the number may sound, many late 1990s and early 2000s NBA fans would probably agree. At the time, Bryant was one of the best, if not the best, guards in the league, and O’Neal was considered an overpowering force who could will his way to big games. Together, they were incredibly difficult to beat.

The Detroit Pistons were able to overcome the duo in the 2004 NBA Finals. But it took a Detroit team full of defensive stars and an LA side with virtually no scoring options outside of Bryant and O’Neal to make it happen. Then Shaq decided to leave that offseason.

By the end of their careers, Bryant had captured two more titles in 2009 and 2010. O’Neal, meanwhile, won only once more with Dwyane Wade and the Heat in 2006. This goes to show that the two probably could have used each other more than they realized if their ultimate goal was chasing as many rings as possible.

Sometimes, great things don’t last forever, and it’s only after the fact that we realize something shouldn’t have been broken up. Neither Kobe nor O’Neal could get over the idea of not being the primary option on the team. Because of it, they were robbed of more championships, at least, according to Lue.