Christmas Intolerance: The first game Kobe vs. Shaq

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At the end of the 2003/04 NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers decisively lost the NBA Finals to the Detroit Pistons with 1:4, and the intolerance between the two stars of the team - Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal - was at its peak. The two don't want to play together anymore and management makes a tough decision – to trade their big star Shaq for three Miami Heat players. The deal was considered terrible for the Lakers, with many adamant that they made the wrong choice in LA and Kobe should have been the one to leave. However, history proves that it was the right choice.

The management of the NBA makes a "gift" to the fans by announcing that the first Shaq vs. Kobe clash will be played on Christmas Day. And the tension is rising in the days before the visit of the "hot" in LA. It got to the point where O'Neal stated that he was like a brick wall and Kobe was a "Cadillac" that was going to crash into him on Christmas Day.

On December 25th, the two teams take to the court and, while all the players greet each other, the two former teammates don't even look at each other. In the very first attack, Kobe decided to break to the Miami basket to score through O'Neal, but the center made a brutal block against Bryant. Several exchanges of lines ensue, and while Kobe remains silent, Shaq continues to make innuendos against Bryant.

The game itself was played basket for basket, but at the end of the game, Kobe managed to achieve a partial revenge against Shaq - after breaking through to the basket, the center fouled the Lakers' guard, which was the 6th foul for O'Neal. This takes him out of the game for the final minutes of the game.

Regular time ends in a tie, with Kobe savoring a sweet victory over his arch nemesis at this stage of his career. Alas, that doesn't happen after Dwyane Wade leads his team to a 2-point lead with 3.6 seconds left - 102:104. Kobe, who finished the game with 42 points, managed to get the ball, but Eddie Jones and Dwyane Wade guarded him perfectly, and his three-point shot turned into a miss - a victory for the Heat.

After the game, Shaquille O'Neal was asked about the meeting. He is succinct: "I knew Kobe wasn't going to score the last shot." Thus, although he performed better purely individually, Bryant lost his first matchup with Shaq. The feud between the two continued for a few more years, until in 2006 a "warming up" began between the two stars, which culminated in 2009. Then, in the All-Star Game, the two were named MVP, and Kobe presented the trophy to Shaq's son, Sheriff. From then on, the feud between the two disappeared, but on Christmas Day 2004, it was definitely at its peak.

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