Shaquille O'Neal won three straight championships with Kobe Bryant during their time as Los Angeles Lakers teammates, but believes that number could've been higher had they played together longer.
During an appearance on the "All the Smoke" podcast with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, O'Neal was asked how many titles he would've won with Bryant if he had stayed in L.A.
"Seven, 'cause the reason why I got traded, it wasn't about me and Kobe beef. It was that they wanted me to take less money," he said.
O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat in 2004 and went on to win another championship, though he admits he would've liked to finish his career with the Lakers.
"If I had to do it all over again, I probably would've had a meeting with the (Buss) family. 'What y'all wanna do? Want me to take less money, take a lesser role, and stay here? Or you still want me to be Shaq?'" he said. "See, it's that ego. The ego still got me what I wanted. I still went to Miami. Pat (Riley) took care of me, I still won one. But I would've liked to have stayed there the rest of my career."
