Hey, before we get started, I wanted to give you a heads up about a couple things.

We first produced this series a few months before Kobe Bryant's tragic death in late January of 2020.

His passing, along with eight others, was an in-shocking and devastating to the basketball community

and millions of fans around the globe. Kobe's life is a fascinating, complicated one.

We're re-airing this six episode series about the relationship between Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe,

because it was a time that came to define Kobe's legendary career.

His story, as a player, will forever be tied up with Shaquille's,

they reached their greatest heights together and also had some pretty contentious moments.

With this re-airing, we're leaving the bulk of the series as it originally was.

But we have updated the final episode of the series to cover Kobe's tragic death

and Shaquille's emotional reaction to the awful events of early 2020.

And on a new episode, I speak with Calvin Washington of Southern California's Spectrum News 1

about Kobe Bryant and ultimately how he is and will be remembered as a competitor who butted

heads with the best of the NBA over the past 25 years, including, yes, Shaquille and how Kobe's

affected subsequent generations of players and generations of basketball fans.

If the time isn't right for you to go back down memory lane, that's cool.

I grew up a Laker fan in Southern California and I'm still trying to make sense of everything

myself. We're bringing the series back so that sports fans can appreciate and maybe better understand

this part of his career. As always, thanks again for listening.

You're up. This is Rob Markman. Watch Rotation Roundtable Live on Amazon Music's Twitch channel.

Every Wednesday at 9 p.m. Eastern or listen to the Rotation Roundtable podcast. Wherever you

listen to podcasts, you'll hear us break down the latest in music, fashion, lifestyle and sport.

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