“Kobe Bryant won a title his way — by establishing a Kobe and the Kobettes dynamic that actually worked — becoming one of the ten best NBA players ever and proving he could prevail without Shaq. If that wasn’t jarring enough, Shaq’s exit from Phoenix marked the fourth time he left a team on bad terms, making everyone re-evaluate the whole “Was Kobe really the bad guy in the Shaqobe Divorce?” saga that had been buried years ago. Maybe Kobe wasn’t as much to blame as we thought. Maybe Shaq was the problem. Maybe the hotel clerk lied about him. Maybe he took a ton of flak for no reason. Maybe he’s … (gulp) … a good guy and a family man who works his butt off and never seems satisfied and kills himself to get better every summer and maybe … (gulp) … was greater than we thought. Damn it all. Bill Simmons
