NBA HOF’er Rick Barry says Kobe Bryant wasn’t happy that Shaq didn’t show up ready to play all the time

0
1843
Rick Barry

Rick Barry checks in with Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson on an episode of Scoop B Radio. Press Play Below To Listen!

Rick Barry was one of the best to ever lace ‘em up. A champion in both the NBA and ABA, he’s a multiple All Star, scoring champ, was one of the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players and the master of the underhanded free throw.

With such a prolific resume, Barry is an authority to speak on a myriad of topics including other greats like retired Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant and his former Lakers teammate Shaquille O’Neal.

Barry believes that Bryant is a first ballot Hall of Famer when he is eligible to be inducted in 2021.

In our Q&A on Scoop B Radio, Barry also ponders what would be had Bryant and O’Neal stayed together in Los Angeles as members of the Lakers.

March 23, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors former player Rick Barry holds the 1975 NBA Championship trophy during a 40th anniversary celebration during the game against the Washington Wizards at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports ORG XMIT: USATSI-188338 ORIG FILE ID: 20150323_kkt_st3_047.jpg

Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson: I chatted with New York City, basketball legend, Pee Wee Kirkland last week and he talked about how he felt that Kobe Bryant actually meshed the street ball game, the global game, as well as the NBA game, and the prep school game all in one. In your mind being a basketball historian that I respect, do you think there is anybody in NBA history, or where they not born yet that were able to complete all those things in their career.

Rick Barry: I don’t follow that close to be able to know who’s accomplished all that. The bottom line is that Kobe is a champion, he’s going to be a Hall of Fame basketball player. Five years from 2016, so in 2021 he will be going on into the hall of fame. He’s a great basketball player, and he’s accomplished a lot and I can tell you that all of that he may have done and some of the records that he has, the only thing Kobe believed in was winning. He was all about winning. And I think one of the problems that occurred with the Lakers when he had Shaq there, was that he was not happy that Shaq didn’t come ready to play all the time. And didn’t play himself into shape, and show up to ready to play all the time. And I think that really bothered Kobe a lot. And I think both of those guys were foolish not talking about it, because they had something special going… It was something that doesn’t happen happen very often. And eventually sometime when they are a lot older in life they’ll be sitting down saying: “What the hell was I thinking about?” “Why in the world didn’t Kobe and I didn’t just stay together and create a real true dynasty?”

Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson: When you talked about that “what the hell was I thinking moment…” what about for you? Did you have that kind of a moment at all during your career after it was all said in done? Anything similar?

Rick Barry: Well I’m a big believer in everything in life happens for a reason, and what takes place. You live with it, you accept it, you move on. You don’t can’t come back, you don’t live in the past. If I had something to do where I can be in the exact same position I am today, with the family that I have, with my wife and my young son, friends and I’m able to do right now and I can change something, without losing that, because this wouldn’t be if I haven’t did what I done in the past. I would be that I preferred to stay and play in the NBA my whole life.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here