Can Kobe Bryant’s 2011 LA Lakers Rival Shaquille O’Neal’s 2001 Team?

Until the end of the 2009 NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant had always existed in the shadow of Shaquille O'Neal's championship teams of 2000-02, but Bryant's fourth title captured in Orlando ended that.

The 2010-11 season is an opportunity to stake Bryant's own claim as the leader of a dominant Laker era, and to finally stand on equal footing with Shaq's three championships as the conductor of the train.

Bryant surpassed O'Neal in career championships with the Lakers' Game Seven victory over the Boston Celtics in last season's Finals, and he let the world know how he felt about that in an interview after the game.

I suspect a third consecutive championship in the same manner as Shaq's Lakers teams of 2000-02 would end the ...

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