Shaquille O’Neal raised eyebrows recently when he claimed Los Angeles Lakers fans never truly loved him the way they adored Kobe Bryant. While on SiriusXM’s NBA Today, Shaq argued that, despite leading the franchise to three consecutive championships, he was viewed primarily through a business lens, stating, “They didn’t love me, they loved Kobe.” 

While many fans pushed back on the narrative, Fox Sports Radio’s The Odd Couple gave O’Neal some firm backing, analyzing the Lakers’ deep-seated emotional scar left by the team’s 2004 trade of him to the Miami Heat. Host Rob Parker emphasized that Shaq’s perspective stems directly from the way his legendary LA tenure ended in bitterness.

“I think Shaq is spot-on on this. And this is from the standpoint of he was the one who was jettisoned out of LA, and he’ll never be able to live that down despite everything that went on,” Parker stated. “His postseason numbers were historic. Everything he did. And yet, when push came to shove, he was the one who got jettisoned out. And he believes that, ‘If the fans really loved me and I was that guy, there’s no way they would have ever parted with me.’ … Guys, Kelvin, you get put out, man, it changes how you feel.”

Rob Parker noted that while franchise owner Dr. Jerry Buss was forced to choose between the two iconic superstars, the decision to trade O’Neal signaled to the big man that he wasn’t the favorite.

“You got two favorite children, he picked a child, and he wasn’t the one picked,” Parker added.

However, co-host Kelvin Washington and producer Rob G pushed back on the idea that Lakers Nation harbored genuine animosity toward the Big Aristotle.

Rob G pointed out that it’s the nature of sports fandom to hate its own cornerstone and that Shaq’s exit was tied more to his lack of conditioning than favoritism.

“The Laker fans loved Shaq in the beginning because he came from Orlando, he was the biggest dude in the league,” Rob G explained. “But they did start to turn on him because he kept showing up out of shape… Then they hated Kobe because they thought he was the reason Shaq got traded, right? Then they loved Kobe until he demanded a trade… It’s cyclical with all these guys.”

The debate on The Odd Couple sheds light on why Kobe Bryant remains the ultimate figurehead for Los Angeles sports fans. O’Neal arrived in L.A. in 1996 as an established force of nature, winning Finals MVP in all three championship runs from 2000 to 2002 while averaging 35.9 points and 15.2 rebounds during those Finals series.

Yet, as Rob G noted, Bryant’s entire development, from a 17-year-old rookie to a 5x champion, played out step-by-step in front of the local crowd.

Rob G even reasons that Shaq had a glamorized Hollywood perspective of the Lakers fanbase. Bryant’s work ethic was deeply aligned with the working-class backbone of Southern California. But Parker’s co-hosts were firm that, despite their frustrations with Shaq, they loved the big guy.

While O’Neal may still carry the sting of his 2004 exit, history shows Lakers fans revered both halves of the legendary duo.