Author(s): Jeff Pearlman

Sport

The inside story of the Los Angeles Lakers from 1996 through 2004, when Kobe Bryant and Shaquille ONeal combinedand collidedto help bring the Lakers three straight championships and restore the team as a powerhouse franchise In modern sports, there have never been two superstar teammates who loathed one another the way Shaq loathed Kobe and Kobe loathed Shaq. There was whisperedand outspokensniping and sparring. Taunts. Physical altercations. The recurring threats of trades. This was warfare disguised as NBA basketball. And yet, despite eight years of infighting and hostility, by turns mediated and encouraged by idiosyncratic coach Phil Jackson, the Shaq-Kobe duo resulted in one of the greatest, most enduring, and ever-evolving teams in NBA history. Just as Kobe and Shaq entertained huge crowds of fans at the Forum (and later Staples Center), so they also provided a nonstop sideshow for their cast of supporting playersincluding Glen Rice, Robert Horry, Rick Fox, Karl Malone, J.R. Rider, and briefly even Dennis Rodmanwhose games often seem enhanced by their biggest stars as they tried mightily not to pick sides. With Kobe Bryants tragic death in 2020, Three-Ring Circus also serves as an extraordinary coming-of-age tale about one of our eras most revered athletes. Bryants competitiveness, insecurities, and inspiring growth as a player come into full focus. As best-selling sportswriter Jeff Pearlman shows in this rollicking masterpiece of reporting, legacy is never simple.