After teaming to win three straight NBA championships, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal became rivals after the latter was traded to the Miami Heat in the summer of 2004.
Their regular-season matchups were hyped in a big way, and O’Neal’s Heat won most of those games.
In February 2008, a then-mediocre Lakers team forever changed its fortunes by trading for Pau Gasol and becoming instant title contenders. The Phoenix Suns, who had knocked the Lakers out of the previous two postseasons, responded by dealing Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to Miami for O’Neal.
It set up a major showdown on Feb. 20, which just happened to be O’Neal’s debut with the Suns.
By now, he was 35 and a much-diminished version of his old self, but he was still a force in the middle.
In a fantastic, hard-fought and high-scoring battle, the Lakers came out on top, 130-124, further proving they had returned to the top of the Western Conference.
Bryant had 41 points and Gasol put up 29 points, while O’Neal contributed 15 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots.
Los Angeles was now a certified juggernaut, and it went all the way to the NBA Finals, where it lost to the Boston Celtics, only to capture the next two world championships, including one over that same Celtics squad.
