Stephen A. Smith Says Shaq Stopped “Hardcore Cats” in Los Angeles From Harming Kobe Bryant in 2004

Remember how much Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Nealhated one another towards the end of their time together with the Lakers? The two talked about it at length during a podcast they did last summer, and even though they can laugh about it now, there was a time when it didn’t seem like they’d ever speak again. Shaq got traded to the Heat in July 2004, and all indications were that Kobe and Shaq would be enemies forever.

Their names are back in the news this week because of the D’Angelo Russell/Nick Young controversy. Much like Russell outed Young’s infidelity by secretly recording a video of him talking about cheating on his fiancée Iggy Azalea, Kobe once told detectives that Shaq used to give “hush money” to women to prevent them from speaking about his extramarital affairs. He reportedly made the stunning revelation during his rape investigation in Eagle, Colo. This clip of Kobe speaking with John Saunders and Stephen A. Smith about it actually reemerged on YouTube yesterday after the news about the Russell/Young scandal started heating up:

On today’s episode of ESPN First Take, Stephen A. and Skip Bayless spent a significant amount of time talking about the Kobe/Shaq feud as it relates to the Russell/Young story. They talked at length about how Kobe’s “hush money” comments fueled the feud. But towards the end of their discussion, Stephen A. told a pretty interesting story about how Shaq apparently went out of his way to help Kobe after he got traded to the Heat, even though the two players were obviously at odds at the time. According to Stephen A., there were some “hardcore cats” in Los Angeles who weren’t happy about Shaq getting traded and wanted to seek some sort of revenge on Kobe. But Shaq intervened and did his part to make sure that that didn’t happen.

Stephen A. talks about what Shaq did in the video above at the 12:25 mark. We’ve also transcribed the story that he told below so that you can read along with it. If what he’s saying here is true, Shaq has clearly played a big role in the well being of many NBA players, including his former foe Kobe.