Su Xi had originally placed high hopes on Shaquille O'Neal. His Super Strength Talent had been stuck at 93, and he was eager for some physical confrontation with O'Neal... otherwise, he never would have touched O'Neal's head right in front of Kobe. That was a truly flagrant foul.
Kobe was an incredibly jealous person.
But O'Neal was truly unlucky, getting injured and taken out of the game just three seconds after it started… even shorter than the time his wife would complain he lasted in bed on a radio show five years later.
He was up for the jump ball against Ilgauskas. Ilgauskas didn't even jump, but he just had to show off that even at 2.16 meters tall, he had an incredible vertical. When he landed, his right big toe came down first… aggravating the big toe injury that would plague him for his entire career.
A forklift entered the court and carried the 0.27-ton Shark out of the Staples Center.
