June 12, 2002; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; (left to right) Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant, Lindsay Hunter and Shaquille O'Neal hold championship trophies after winning Game 4 of the NBA Finals at The Meadowlands. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY via Ima

Shaquille O'Neal's Lakers Could Have Won Without Kobe Bryant, Claims Hall of Famer

Originally posted on Los Angeles Lakers on SI
By Nelson Espinal | Last updated Sep 22, 2025 5:00 PM ET

According to Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady, Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O'Neal could have won titles without his running mate, Kobe Bryant.

Bryant and O'Neal were able to secure a three-peat from 2000 to 2022, something that has not been done since, joining an exclusive club of consecutive championships.

The duo is synonymous with each other due to their time in LA and how things ended when they had a falling out, resulting in O'Neal leaving for the Miami Heat and Bryant staying on the Lakers.

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The legendary center did end up capturing a title in Miami, though he also had help in the form of Dwyane Wade, finding a new running mate.

According to McGrady, O'Neal did not need Bryant's help to win a title, using Wade as proof.

"When I look at who I was as a player at this time and I'm looking at Shaq, the most dominant basketball player, and I'm looking I'm seeing myself playing with a cat like Shaq based off of the conversation around ring culture," McGrady said on "The Arena" podcast.

"Hell yeah, I would have won a ring with the Big Fella, right? And the reason I say that because when you go back to early 2000s and you look on that All-NBA list, who's right there with Kobe? I'm on that first team. (…)

"But when I look at when I look at the player who I was at this specifically term, I'm not saying I'm Kobe. I don't have to be Kobe to play with Shaq and win a championship. D-Wade proved that, didn't he? D-Wade proved that. We're talking about a very small time in my career when I was considered top five player in the NBA.

"That's all we talking about. And looking at what based off of what Shaq and who he was at that moment in time. Throw me in there. That's no disrespect to Bean. Not at all. The man is one of the greatest top five players ever. Ever."

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While O'Neal's greatness is undisputed, Bryant was a driving force for the team's three consecutive titles, helping ease the burden on the big man.

He would have eventually delivered an NBA Championship with any good team around him, but it is hard to take away from Bryant's impact on his achievement of all three rings.