Kobe says he would have won 12 championships if Shaq had been in shape

The Lakers *16 championships is perilously close to the Celtics NBA high of 17. According to Kobe Bryant, the Lakers would have left the Celtics in the dust if Shaq had spent more time in the gym.

"I wish he was in the gym!" he said. "I would've had 12 f*cking rings!"

"He'd be the greatest of all time," Bryant said of a gym-focused Shaq. "He'd be the first to tell you that!"

Lucky for the Celtics and the rest of the NBA, Shaq got in worse and worse shape as his NBA tenure went on. I don't know about 12 championships, but Kobe and an in-shape Shaq would definitely have brought L.A. more titles. I mean Shaq on his last legs on the Celtics 2010-11 season was still a monster. In fact if he had remained healthy that season, the Celtics may have won another title. The C's began that season dominant.

But Kobe isn't lying here. When the talking heads bring up the GOAT debate on what seems like a daily basis now, Shaq is never included. And he's basically the only NBA player who gets top 10 all-time recognition that you could say didn't have that strong of a work ethic. Guess it goes to show how dominant he was, that even not caring all that much, he was still so successful.

p.s. Speaking of the in-shape hypotheticals, ff Rasheed Wallace had been in shape in 2010, Kobe wouldn't even have five rings.

* Obligatory mention that the Los Angeles Lakers claiming the five Minneapolis titles as their own is pretty weak. If the OKC Thunder ever win a title, does that mean they have two now, because the Seattle Supersonics won one back in the 1970's?