Shaq and Kobe say they regret their past actions. Some of them, at least. (Ball Don’t Lie)

There have been little fissures in the ice dividing former Los Angeles Lakers teammates Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal through the years. The two feuded heavily in both times good (those three NBA championships) and bad (embarrassing playoff ousters to Utah, San Antonio, and Detroit that saw the duo just manage a combined 4-20 record), and they've had their moments in the days since Kobe forced a trade that sent O'Neal (happily) to Miami. Well, Shaq has a podcast now; hosted by John Kincade. And in the great Marc Maron tradition of righting past wrongs with his guests, he's decided to bring Kobe on for a discussion that will clear the air while positing (as Shaq has in the past, while Kobe demurred) that the relationship wasn't all that bad to begin with. Serena Winters at Lakers Nation transcribed a preview of the episode, which will be released in full on Monday, recently : John Kincade: Is there anything, Shaq, that you would like to take back in the give and take over the years? Shaq: A lot of things, you just played the clip where I said I wanted to be traded. I definitely did not want to leave L.A., but you know that's how you've got to talk when you're in business, especially when you think you're in control. Definitely didn't want to leave L.A. A lot of stuff was said out of the heat of the moment. I guarantee I don't remember a lot of stuff that they said because I changed my thought process of, you know what we won three out of four, what the hell are you all talking about, this is not really even a story. Kincade: Anything you want to take back Kobe? Kobe Bryant: Here's the thing though, when you say it at the time you actually mean it and then when you get older you have more perspective and you're like holy s—, I was an idiot when I was a kid. To me, the most important thing was really just keep your mouth shut. You don't need to go to the press with stuff. You keep it internal and we have our arguments and our disagreements, but I think having our debates within the press was something I wish would've been avoided, but it did kind of create this whirlwind around us as a team with myself and Shaq and the press and the media that just put so much pressure on us as an organization. Eh, I guess. I mean both of these guys really, really screwed up. In May we talked about O'Neal's assertion that he would have remained a Laker for life had it not been for two ill-timed knee injuries to Karl Malone during the 2003-04 regular and postseason. That's dubious, to say the least, because the Lakers were hedging on extending the contract of an aging and overweight O'Neal at the time, Shaq should have been iffy on wanting to return to a similarly-aging (even with Kobe) Los Angeles Lakers team, and at the time a trip to Miami (with the young and dynamic Dwyane Wade, and cap room for growth) was both the best basketball and business move for Mr. O'Neal. Were it not for poor timing in the 2005 Eastern Conference finals the Heat would have likely given all the eventual champion Spurs all they could handle in that year's Finals. Miami split the season series with San Antonio, one of the top defensive teams of all time, and Dwyane Wade didn't play in the one loss. Miami would go on to win the 2006 title. Secondly, for Bryant to call himself an "idiot" for the way he got off on the wrong foot with O'Neal during the fin de siècle is fine, but he was 25 and about to turn 26 when he strong-armed Laker management into dealing O'Neal in 2004. Even after the Lakers traded Shaq, Kobe still flirted with the Clippers and Chicago, leaving the Lakers dangling along the way, prior to re-signing with his incumbent team. And it appears that his regrets have more to do with how he dealt with the press, than his teammate. O'Neal and Bryant feuded almost from the start. Kobe never took to the sort of rookie treatment that most young players grin and bear, failing to fit in on several levels on a veteran Laker team that was thinking "championship" weeks before the newly-signed Bryant was to even turn 18. Not only did Bryant have to watch as Hollywood-obsessed O'Neal got most of the shots in the Laker offense, but he also had to play behind guard Eddie Jones in the Laker lineup. Jones and Bryant battled regularly in pickup games in Philadelphia even before Bryant had left high school, and Kobe respected the All-Star, but it would take 32 months between Kobe's introduction with the Lakers and his first permanent move into the starting lineup. Bryant respected O'Neal's impact, but not his game. O'Neal didn't like Bryant airballing several long jumpers down the stretch of the deciding Game 5 of their initial season together, but Bryant probably didn't like O'Neal poor defense and six fouls in that contest. The 1997-98 season produced yet another season ending playoff sweep for O'Neal, his fourth in six years as a pro, and the 1999 lockout and season that followed were disastrous. O'Neal (who had already signed a massive seven-year, $120 million contract) was a driving force behind moving stars to capitulate and give into the idea of a "max contract," and to his credit he helped end the stalemate. Bryant, meanwhile, was one of the few players to vote against the new collective bargaining agreement, mindful of the fact that his upcoming six-year, $70.9 contract extension could have possibly been doubled under the same amount of years under the old rules. Shaq got his $100 million contract, and then helped prevent Kobe from getting his. The two clashed endlessly in practice, with Kobe itching to take over in a post-Michael Jordan era, while the Lakers fruitlessly looked for veteran help (Derek Harper, Glen Rice, Dennis Rodman) to helped settle things. The winning that came with the Phil Jackson years barely helped relations. Jackson almost immediately sided with O'Neal, who played in the best shape of his career in Jackson's first season, while Bryant seethed. Though Bryant's alleged off-court indiscretions never made it to trial in 2003, his comments about doing "what Shaq does" and paying off women with whom he'd had affairs with did make it on the record. Shaq responded by showing up to camp out of shape (a year after refusing to have surgery on his foot until fall when he was "on company time," as if he wasn't being paid in the summer), and accusing Kobe of attempting to "buy love" after Bryant bought an expensive ring for his wife Vanessa as the rape allegations came to light. Bryant responded by calling O'Neal a "fat ass" in an interview with Jim Gray. But, sure – it was Karl Malone's knee injury. The two exchanged glares and little else as Kobe stayed with both a rebuilding and then championship Lakers squad in the years that followed. O'Neal bounced from Miami to Phoenix, then Cleveland and Boston before hanging it up in 2011. Upon Kobe's Finals loss to the Celtics in 2008 Shaq responded with a rather distasteful impromptu concert performance aimed at Mr. Bryant , but when Kobe eclipsed Shaq's amount of career championships ( something that Bryant reminded everyone of in the minutes following his last championship ), Shaq hopped on Twitter to play cheeky and send this out: @THE_REAL_SHAQ Congratulations Kobe, u deserve it. U played great. Enjoy it man enjoy it. I know what ur sayin "Shaq how my ass taste" — SHAQ (@SHAQ) June 18, 2010 And now we're here to take in this strain of revisionist history: "It was more of a office beef. When I look back, I would do it all over again." - @SHAQ on his relationship with @kobebryant — SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) August 27, 2015 I'm sure Shaq would do it all over again. He'd happily put up with the losing years in order to win those three titles, knowing that Phil Jackson was always a year or two away, and when Phil was in town the ball was always going into O'Neal by rule. He's not saying he'd handle the losing years in 2002-03 and 2003-04 all over again, or more appropriately. And Bryant, when pressed about his self-described idiocy, only cops to not talking to the press about his frustrations as a 25-year old kid. So, sure – they're friendly with each other now. It's only because they don't have to share the ball and the same locker room for a hundred games a year. - - - - - - - Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops

Shaq and Kobe say they regret their past actions. Some of them, at least. (Ball Don’t Lie)

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