It is no mystery that Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal were exactly the best of friends while they were teammates on the Los Angeles Lakers. It’s well documented that the two had a heated relationship and allegedly, O’Neal offered to pay one of his teammates to fight Kobe during practice.
That player is Isaiah Rider, who recently joined Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson on their “All The Smoke” podcast. During their chat, Rider dropped a bomb that Shaq offered him $10,000 to “get into it” with Kobe in practice.
“If you and Kobe get into it, it’s 10Gs in the locker…it’s 10Gs in the locker…” Rider said about the offer Shaq made.
“This is three days into practice, he’s like, ‘there’s 10Gs in one-dollar bills if you ever get into it.’…”I’m like, ‘man these boys is crazy, bro,’” Rider added.
Rider said he did not accept the offer because he knew Lakers’ head coach Phil Jackson would have kicked him off the team in a heartbeat.
Isaiah Rider said Shaq offered him $10,000 (in 1 dollar bills) to "get into it" with Kobe in practice.
Full #AllTheSmoke Episode: https://t.co/h9k1PdQPLA pic.twitter.com/IdjIMZkJ6s
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) April 9, 2020
Kobe passed away with seven others after getting in a helicopter crash in California this past January. He was only 41 years old.