Eventual Hall of Famers Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant blended seamlessly together on the court during their eight shared seasons with the Lakers, but off-court tensions grew even as their success bloomed.

Kobe Bryant helped lead the Los Angeles Lakers to the first title in their eventual “three-peat.” Bryant’s rise as a superstar in the NBA happened quickly and, along with Shaquille O’Neal, formed arguably the greatest one-two punch in the league’s history as well as the history of the Lakers franchise.

This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Derek Fisher on Kobe Bryant winning NBA title without Shaq: 'It was also for the writers and the newspaper people'