You won't believe what it took for Kobe to 'appreciate' Shaq

Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal just buried the hatchet of their longtime contentious relationship, but it took one specific person for him to really find his "appreciation" for the big man.

The 2012-13 season had some high expectations with the acquisitions of Steve Nash and Dwight Howard in some big offseason moves. However, the season didn't go as well as some had planned with a first round playoff exit for the first time since 2007 and a lot of discord between Howard and Bryant by season's end.

Their time together ended just as badly as the one between Kobe and Shaq and that's apparently what it took for Bryant to realize how great it was having Shaq on the team. And I don't see Kobe trying to make up with Dwight because he wasn't nearly as good as Shaq and there wasn't as much winning, which will solve just about any problem.