Chapter 222: Guarding the Best Kobe

For every Laker other than Shaquille O'Neal, the upcoming visit to the Staples Center by the Bucks wasn't essentially different from any other visiting team.

At best, it was just a regular-season game.

Media might add value to it, touting it as a clash between the best of the East and the West, a preview of the Finals, but if the players themselves got distracted by these things, the game would be tough to play.

But for O'Neal and Yu Fei, there was genuine animosity. Moreover, the hostility grew with each encounter between them. After every game, you wouldn't hear about them doing anything to ease the tension; instead you'd hear about what Yu Fei did to Shaq, what Yu Fei said, how Yu Fei behaved... and that was the problem.

As the League's best player, O'Neal hardly ever got the better of Yu Fei.

This raised some questions within the Lakers organization: could Frye be restraining Shaq?

Being "restrained" was seen as a very serious assessment in the eyes of O'Neal's camp.