THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Just in case anybody had forgotten that Kobe Bryant has never won an NBA title without Shaquille O’Neal, the big man sent out a reminder.
The Phoenix Suns centre can be seen rapping that "Kobe couldn’t do without me" in a video posted online at celebrity news and gossip site TMZ.com
During the two-minute video, a grinning O’Neal lurches through an improvised rap in which he skewers the Lakers’ star, with whom he won three straight NBA titles from 2000-2002 while with Los Angeles.
"I was freestyling. That’s all. It was all done in fun. Nothing serious whatsoever," O’Neal told ESPN.com Monday. "That is what MC’s do. They freestyle when called upon. I’m totally cool with Kobe. No issue at all."
O’Neal and Bryant last played together in 2004. After a long-simmering feud came to a boil in public, O’Neal was traded to Miami before the 2004-05 season, and won an NBA championship with the Heat in 2006.
Bryant and the Lakers didn’t reach the final again until earlier this month, when the Boston Celtics beat them 4-2.
In his rap, O’Neal has the crowd sing along as he tells Bryant to “tell me how my ass tastes.”
He then says: ” I’m a horse. Kobe ratted me out. That’s why I’m getting divorced.”
"You know how I be," Shaq rapped. "Last week Kobe couldn’t do without me."
O’Neal, who has recorded seven albums, also said he is "the difference between first and last place" and even took a jab at former New York Knicks centre Patrick Ewing’s lack of championship rings.
TMZ.com speculates the line refers to Bryant’s rape case in 2003 when he told police that he “Should have done what Shaq does. Shaq would pay his women not to say anything.”
O’Neal filed for divorce from his wife, Shaunie, in September 2007 after five years of marriage. They have four children.
