Shaq, Kobe, Karl Malone, Gary Payton era; Marbury, Larry Brown, Lin, Melo

HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto and Sports Illustrated’s Howard Beck discuss behind the scenes stories about Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant’s relationship, how Karl Malone tried to play peacemaker, Gary Payton’s gripe with the Triangle offense, and more. Beck also discussed how the power struggles between Larry Brown, Stephon Marbury and Isiah Thomas, along with Carmelo Anthony, Jeremy Lin, Amare Stoudemire and Mike D’Antoni unfolded behind the scenes on the latest HoopsHype podcast episode.

For more interviews with players, coaches, and media members, be sure to like and subscribe to the HoopsHype podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and anywhere else you listen to podcasts. Listen to the podcast above or check out some snippets of the conversation in a transcribed version below.

2:00 Los Angeles Lakers stars who struggled

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Scotto: Once again, the Lakers are loaded with stars in Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis, and LeBron James… I don’t know if we’ve seen the Lakers struggle with these types of stars since Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol were teamed with Dwight Howard and Steve Nash.

Beck: The Lakers as a franchise that’s about stars. In NBA history, stars drive the league and championships. The Lakers are the epitome of this model, and they have this knack and are a magnet for superstar talent. More often than not, it goes pretty well… I think there’s a danger there, and what we’re seeing this season is the danger where you over-index on the stars and think stars are the only way forward, and it doesn’t matter which stars, how they fit, whether they fit, or what stage of their career they’re at.

To your analogy, the last time they struggled by over-indexing on stars and overindulging like we do at Thanksgiving, where you could’ve just stopped after the third helping of turkey, and you decide to go for the fourth round, that’s Westbrook now. That was adding Howard and Nash to Kobe and Pau at the time.

People often…