When the Lakers signed Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal in 1996, West, who was the general manager, said it was the happiest day of his life after the births of his children. However, that didn’t mean the effort to secure the two stars wasn’t stressful. West says it most definitely was, adding that even after the pair were in Laker uniforms, he found himself working hard to iron out differences between the two, even to the point of writing them individual letters. It pained him, West relates, “to see how much of a struggle it was for them [to coexist], how unwilling Kobe was to defer to Shaquille in any way.” Despite their different personalities, the Lakers managed a three-peat, with championships in 2000, 2001, and 2002.
