Vanessa Bryant refutes Shaquille O’Neal’s claim that Kobe Bryant will come out of retirement

In an interview with TMZ this past Monday, Shaquille O’Neal said he’d been hearing something about Kobe Bryant potentially coming out of retirement to play with LeBron James on the Lakers. Kobe’s wife, Vanessa Bryant, is having none of that.

While vacationing in Cabo, Bryant posted a short video on her Instagram and in the comments was asked about her husband coming back to play in the NBA. Sounds like Kobe is enjoying retirement. (h/t: All my best friends at Lakers Reddit)

@vanessabryant on Instagram

Almost right as we noticed this from Vanessa, ironically we also received an email about Shaq doubling down on his take on PodcastOne SportsNet’s The BIG Podcast with Shaq Wednesday, saying the following:

“I know all the parties involved. Let’s talk about the Lakers parties. There’s already excitement with LeBron coming here. I don’t know how ticket sales are - boom, boom, boom. But if you make that announcement – ooooh - the Kobe jerseys and LeBron jerseys, side by side - a little package. It’ll explode. Right?”

“And now on Kobe’s side, ‘Kobe, we love you. We need you to lead. We need you to play 10, 15, 20 minutes a game. You play third, fourth quarter, we’ll let you do what you do, you and LeBron out there. LeBron running and kicking with you, and all you have to do is spot up and shoot jumpers 20 minutes a game.’ Kobe will think about that.”

The feud between Shaq and someone with the last name Bryant continues.

Perhaps this was all a means to drum up interest in Shaq’s podcast, but if we’re being honest, Kobe seems like one of the last people to go back on his retirement and return under any circumstances. Bryant has repeated without question how much he’s enjoyed this next chapter of his life, something that almost certainly won’t change anytime soon.

Enjoy Cabo, Bryant fam.