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There has been a lot of buzz surrounding Shaq's upcoming HBO documentary which provides an inside look at the Los Angeles Lakers icon's colorful NBA career. Naturally, the show's storyline is expected to lean heavily on Shaquille O'Neal's relationship with the great, late Kobe Bryant. As it turns out, however, there's a bit of a twist amid Kobe's family's rather unexpected request.
Director Robert Alexander recently guested on The Rich Eisen Show to promote the release of the documentary that has so aptly been titled as SHAQ. During the interview, Alexander revealed that Kobe's family wanted the show to cut down on Bryant's exposure in the program:
“To be transparent, we also got to a point where we had a certain amount of their story in the film,” Alexander said (h/t Alex Kirschenbaum of FanNation). “Kobe's family essentially requested that we reduce the amount of Kobe we have in the film.”
When asked by the host why this was the case, Alexander admitted that he did not know the motivation behind Kobe's family's demands:
“I'm not totally sure, but out of respect for their wishes we did it, we went ahead and we complied,” Alexander continued. “… So I'm very proud of what we ended up with, as far as the amount of Kobe content that we have, that relates to Shaq's story, but at the end of the day it's a Shaq film.”
The director did say that there is still a “really strong amount of Kobe” in the documentary, so fans need not be disappointed. As Alexander said, however, this documentary is about the decorated career of Shaquille O'Neal, so it's only right that the program focuses on what the Hall of Famer achieved during and after his time in the league.
