Kazaam!

Oh no he di'in't! Just when you think you're out, they pull you back in! Let's see, it only took Shaq about a week and a half after the Lakers (and Kobe) lost in the Finals to publicly announce his utter elation over the result. And it didn't come in the form of some interview quote or youtube soundbite. No the Big Aristotle decided it would be best if he took the mic in an NYC night club to freestyle rap it out. Who was there to pick it up but none other the always classy TMZ.com. As for the freestyle, Shaq offers some tasty options to Kobe (literally) and says "Kobe, you can't do it without me!" I'm guessing he is referring to winning a Championship and not eating 27 hot dogs in 3 minutes for off-season workouts.

Other tidbits include:
"Kobe ratted me out and now I'm getting divorced." Hmmm, that doesn't sound friendly.

"Hey Kobe, tell me how my a$$ taste?" Say what now? The hook could definitely use some work.

It's the Day After the Shaq rap and the question is: was this real or was this staged for publicity? Is there actually still animosity there between these two guys? Is the feud back? Will Kobe enlist the help of fellow rap aficionado Tyra as he did in the past and come back at Shaquille with a freestyle of his own? As a Lakers fan I certainly hope not. As someone easily amused by poorly executed embarrassing television fodder, yes I think he should.

So what happened? I thought they made-up like two years ago. That's what makes me think this whole "freestyle" rap was staged a la WWF built to bring up the ratings for those Pacific Conference games with the Suns vs the Lakers next year.
Clearly these two guys have had some bitter moments and hostile comments towards each other over the years. And no doubt deep down Shaq is happy Kobe has yet to win a title without him. But my feeling is this seems a bit forced. Who knows, perhaps if my teammate told everyone in the world that I had paid off girls millions of dollars to keep secret that I slept around on my wife and then demanded that I be traded from our championship caliber team... yeah I guess I might hold a little teeny tiny grudge. Perhaps...