Three-Ring Circus Quotes

“The hullabaloo passed, but days later an even bigger bombshell hit the Staples Center: Kobe Bryant was engaged. To be married. To another person. With a pulse. Really.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

“O’Neal bit his tongue and said little. Years later, however, he admitted that the anger was real. “Do I hold a grudge about that? Yeah—I do,” he said. “Some fucking dickhead kept me from being the first unanimous MVP. Some asshole who doesn’t know shit gives his vote to Iverson and fucks up history. I never forgot that.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

“Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison),”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

“If there is a beauty to the three-ring dynasty that was the 1996-2004 Lakers, it's that (with rare exceptions) members of the organization love looking back, love recalling, love sharing memories of a blissful span.


I also found one other thing: minimal sadness that the ride hadn't lasted longer.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

“Defending a title is exhausting. Defending two titles is excruciating. Defending three titles - when the world is sick of your existence and people everywhere seek your demise and the hunger you once possessed has been satiated by caviar and lobster - is nearly impossible. You stop wanting it the way you once wanted it. Someone punches you, and you don't have the energy to duck. You're Mike Tyson against Buster Douglas. The upstart possesses the edge, because the upstart is edgy. The endless praise softens you. The free meals fatten you.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

“Roland Lazenby in his Bryant biography: “In the third quarter”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

“He was asked whether he would have been willing to continue to play alongside O’Neal. The answer was no. He had said no to Jackson, no to Kupchak, no to Jerry Buss. No—he would never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever again play with Shaquille O’Neal. Never, ever, ever. Or . . . “That I had something to do with Shaquille leaving, that’s something I laugh at,” he said. “It upsets me. It angers me. If he’d re-signed for whatever, I’d still be here today. Unfortunately, it just didn’t work out that way.” Watching from his home, O’Neal couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Watching from his home, Jackson couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Had Jerry Buss extended O’Neal’s contract, Kobe Bryant would be holding up his new Los Angeles Clippers jersey at this very moment. O’Neal knew it. Jackson knew it.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

“The Los Angeles coach and his assistants were befuddled by the Buss family’s willingness to kneel before a child. Around the same time as he was being accused of sexual assault, Bryant started behaving in curious ways. There were the new tattoos scrolling down his right arm—a crown, his wife Vanessa’s name, a halo and angel wings above Psalm XXVII.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

“Basketball is a young man’s game, unkind to ancient legs.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

“The most noteworthy knock-Shaq-on-his-rear addition took place on June 26, 2002, when the Houston Rockets used the first pick in the NBA draft to select Yao Ming, the 7-foot-6, 310-pound center who had recently averaged 38.9 points and 20.2 rebounds per game in the playoffs with the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association. Though he was just 21 and unfamiliar with high-caliber competition, Yao’s arrival was considered a direct challenge to O’Neal’s reign as the NBA’s mightiest big man. Sure, Shaq was tall. But he wasn’t this tall. Within weeks, a song titled simply “Yao Ming” was being played on Houston radio stations, and Steve Francis, the Rockets’ superstar guard, was being introduced to audiences as “Yao Ming’s teammate.” There was talk—only half in jest—of a Ming dynasty. Put simply, the NBA’s 28 other franchises were doing their all to shove the Lakers off their perch. If that meant copying elements of the triangle offense (as many teams attempted to do), so be it. If that meant adding Mutombo or Clark, so be it. If that meant importing China’s greatest center, so be it. And if that meant throwing punches—well, let’s go.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

“O’Neal, however, didn’t take care of himself—and everyone knew it. With each Laker season he seemed a bit slower, a bit less athletic, a bit more injury prone—still otherworldly 85 percent of the time, but not 100 percent of the time, as once had been the case.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

“Jackson hung the piece of paper in O’Neal’s locker without uttering a peep. When the Los Angeles big man saw it, he smiled widely. He had recently given himself a new nickname—“the Big Deporter”—for his treatment of foreign-born centers like Divac. Now he spun and told a reporter standing nearby, “I hear and see everything. I’m the police.” Translation: It’s on.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

“O’Neal, meanwhile, was told of the article’s contents and decided he was done turning the other cheek. He would always take care of guys like Fox and Horry and Penberthy and Madsen. They were his people. But Kobe? Fuck Kobe. As the media gathered around after a practice, O’Neal spoke intentionally loudly with Jerome Crawford, his bodyguard. “Did you know they pay more taxes in Canada?” he said. “Like in Vancouver?” Crawford replied. “Hmm, Vancouver,” O’Neal said. “Isn’t that where Kobe’s gonna get traded to?”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

“Brian Shaw, the veteran point guard who was respected by O’Neal and Bryant, tried explaining to the kid that his words were unwise. Fox, also respected by both, did the same. It mattered not. Jackson was furious, and in a closed-door meeting he told the Lakers he had erred in giving them too much freedom. “I tried to let you guys figure it out,” he said. “Now I’m going to have to instill more discipline. You don’t get the respect of being champions.” But what did that mean? Would Jackson change anything? Would the approach shift? Answer: Not really.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

“His level of sophistication didn’t jive with Slam,” said Tony Gervino, the magazine’s editor. “He wasn’t particularly cool; he was very polished. Slam was never polished. We were the opposite of polished.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

“Kobe just wasn’t cool,” said Elizabeth Kaye, the Laker biographer. “There’s no coolness to him at all.” His Adidas shoes, first the EQT Elevation, then the KB8, then the KB8 II, never sold particularly well, in part because Bryant had 0.00 percent street cred and in part because the brand wasn’t Nike or And1. (“The second Kobe shoe looked like a toaster,” said Russ Bengtson, who covered footwear for Slam. “Nobody wants to play basketball in toasters.”) One model of “the Kobe” had a depiction of Kobe’s profile on a gold coin gracing the inner lining. It was preposterous.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

“In his defense (sort of), Bryant looked around the league and saw peers firing away from all angles. The uber-athletic Vince Carter had the green light in Toronto, as did Allen Iverson in Philadelphia, Tracy McGrady in Orlando, Paul Pierce in Boston. There was an understandable sense of jealousy from Bryant, who aspired to not merely lead the league in scoring but fulfill an image he couldn’t possibly live up to. “There was a game against Toronto when Kobe decided he needed to go one-on-one against Vince,” Jackson recalled. “He had no space to operate, and he kept going right at him. Nothing kills team spirit like that.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

“You had to clearly choose. Shaq was jealous of Kobe. Kobe wasn’t jealous of Shaq. Kobe just wanted to kick everybody’s ass.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

“The Lakers wrapped the season with an NBA-best 67-15 record, and while O’Neal (29.7 points per game), Bryant (22.5 points per game), and Rice (15.9 points per game) stood out on the statistical sheets, the key was Jackson. The veteran coach somehow kept a roster overflowing with egos and arrogance in one piece; somehow convinced O’Neal to ignore Bryant’s cockiness; and somehow convinced Bryant to accept life in the shadow of a larger-than-life big man. He used Rice wisely, leaned on veterans like John Salley and Ron Harper to keep the locker room happy, forbade the hazing of rookies.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

“That’s why, when West was asked during his team’s playoff loss to San Antonio about the possibility of hiring Jackson, he said, curtly, “Fuck Phil Jackson.” Yes, Fuck Phil Jackson.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

“Regardless, the growing chorus of Laker fans who wanted more Kobe and less Eddie was confounding, because the third-year guard was playing the best ball of his lifetime. But Bryant was on the verge of legitimate greatness—a greatness that Jones (talent be damned) would never touch.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

“But Cleveland sucks,” Fox said—referring to both the team (which went 42-40 in 1996–97) and the city (once ranked among America’s most dangerous metropolises by CBS News). “It’s a lot of money,” Strickland replied. “Bill,” Fox said, “tell them if they wanna pay me $42 million I’ll go to Cleveland. Otherwise I’m joining the Lakers.” Rick Fox joined the Lakers.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

“The Lakers regained possession with 11.3 seconds left and the score knotted at 89. During a time-out, Harris looked around the huddle and decided that the man to have the basketball in his hands would be the untested, undeserving, untrustworthy Kobe Bryant.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

“Inside the Lakers’ locker room, the reaction was subdued euphoria. Ceballos was an obnoxious brat who played no defense and went AWOL. Horry, on the other hand, was a 6-foot-9 outside gunner (he was a lifetime 34 percent three-point shooter) and low-post defender joining an operation in need of long-range shooting and low-post defense. It was a trade that, by NBA standards, generated little attention. It was a trade that changed everything. Suddenly, instead of being a towel-throwing pain on an 11-24 team going nowhere fast, Horry was a coveted piece of a first-place club that sat 17 games over .500. During his first four NBA seasons, all with the Rockets, Horry had learned how to play with Hakeem Olajuwon, the 7-foot, 255-pound Nigerian center. He knew his job was to feed off the big man, and that a box score where Olajuwon scored 30 and Horry scored 12 usually meant Houston won. Now, with the Lakers, he was more than happy to acknowledge O’Neal’s place as the center of the basketball universe.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

“Yo, I’m Kobe. Kobe Bryant. I’m from PA—went to Lower Merion High School, dominated everything.” (Pause.) “I just want y’all to know, nobody’s gonna punk me. I’m not gonna let anyone in the NBA punk me. So be warned.” Awwwwkward. “It was like ‘Yo, Kobe, relax,’ ” recalled David Booth, who landed a camp invite off of a strong summer league showing. “He was trying to establish himself, which I understand. But it didn’t play very well.” “Not the best way to start things,” said Blount. “But you have to remember, he was a child.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

“In the aftermath of his sizzling four-game summer league run, Bryant expected to join the team and immediately emerge as a superstar. Only, well, he did something extraordinarily stupid. Because Bryant was young and dumb and a 24/7 hoops junkie, on the afternoon of September 2 he visited the famed pickup courts of Venice Beach to get in a few runs. After leaping at the hoop to tip-dunk the ball, he fell toward the pavement and tried to catch himself with his left wrist. His 200-pound body landed atop his arms, and moments later he saw three knots bulging below his hand. The wrist was broken—and Jerry West was dumbfounded. He greeted the news of the malady with stunned silence, responding to Gary Vitti, the team’s trainer, with a blank stare. “He was doing what?” West asked. “Playing basketball at Venice,” Vitti explained. “Wait,” West said. “Wait, wait. Wait. What?” It would be one of the last times the Lakers didn’t include a NO PICKUP BASKETBALL clause in the contract of a rookie signee.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

“The mythology began here. On the day. At the moment. Only nobody knew it. As the years passed and the legend grew, it became an increasingly daunting challenge to separate fact from fiction; giant from gnat. That’s what happens when we anoint our heroes with nicknames and expectations and an unusual largeness generally reserved for skyscrapers and grand canyons.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

“When Hoggard’s piece on the poll came out, O’Neal’s Olympic teammates—NBA veterans who knew the importance of getting paid—teed off. In particular Charles Barkley, the Phoenix Suns forward and resident trash talker, refused to hold back. “Are you fucking kidding me?” he told O’Neal. “You bring glory to this redneck, one-horse town, and this is what they think of you? Get out as soon as you can. Fuck these people.” It was harsh. But it was also correct.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

“The Orlando Magic didn’t know their assholes from a hole in the wall.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

“College? Who needed college. Kobe Bryant had decided to take his talents to the NBA.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty