Kobe says Shaq gym comment was 'really a compliment'

Kobe Bryant offered some clarification on his recent comments about former teammate Shaquille O'Neal during an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on Tuesday night.

The Los Angeles Lakers great explained that his statement that he'd have 12 rings if Shaq "was in the gym" wasn't meant to be taken seriously.

"Here's the thing, it was really a compliment," Bryant said. "People missed the whole first half of that in which I said he was the most dominant player I've ever seen and I felt like he could've been the greatest of all time.

"So, people kind of missed that part of it - they caught onto the lazy part. But, that was like, I kinda said that tongue-in-cheek. We weren't going to win 12 rings, nor were we going to play our entire careers together, you know what I mean? But it's all good, man, I love that dude."

Bryant also spoke about giving his youngest daughter Kobe as a middle name, his relationship with Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka, and his new fantasy adventure novel "Legacy and the Queen."