Los Angeles Lakers

Jerry West on Kobe and Shaq: 'Those two different personalities had to clash'

Published May. 8, 2015 4:39 p.m. ET

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Jerry West has had a long-lasting impact on the NBA, both as a player and as an executive. Although he's one of the greatest players of all-time, West may be remembered most for putting together two of the most dominant forces basketball has ever seen: Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal.

West spoke about bringing the two players together, and explained why Kobe and Shaq couldn't co-exist for even more shared success. Here's a transcription of West's comments via SLAM from the interview posted on Yahoo Sports:

West: “I think that Kobe Bryant played every game like he didn’t like anyone he played against, which I loved. He didn’t like fraternization, which I loved. And Shaquille was like a big teddy bear, who smiled, but you put him in a game where something was on the line and you wouldn’t want to play against Shaquille O’Neal…

“I think the combination of, you know, Kobe wanting to exert himself more than he had, and Shaquille being very vocal about who he was…. I think those two different personalities had to clash somewhere along the way. I didn’t think they’d ever clash to the extent they did.”

(h/t SLAM and Yahoo Sports)