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06:44 AM ET 06.24 | The NBA Finals sputtered out a week ago, failing to live up to past Lakers and Celtics lore. Leave it to Shaquille O'Neal, part-time center, part-time rapper, to pick up the pieces -- or the microphone -- and poke and prod at the embers of a feud with Kobe Bryant that had all but died out some time ago. "You know how I be. Last week Kobe couldn't do without me," O'Neal freestyle-rapped Sunday at a New York nightclub in footage shown on TMZ.com. The reference? To the Lakers and Bryant losing the Finals, still without a championship since O'Neal was traded from the team four years ago, while O'Neal picked up his fourth ring in 2006 with Miami. The italicized comments are some of the tamer and printable remarks in an obscenity-laced two-minute verse. By late Monday, O'Neal appeared to be backtracking from his remarks. Efforts to reach Bryant's and O'Neal's representatives were unsuccessful. However, O'Neal did tell ESPN.com: "It was all done in fun. Nothing serious whatsoever . . . I'm totally cool with Kobe. No issue at all."