Yes, Kobe contributed to the Lakers winning it all those 3 years. He is one of the most talented players in the league, but he is not a dominant force like Shaq. Kobe's shooting percentage went down almost 10% last year. The reason for that, he did not have Shaq drawing double teams down low and kicking it out to him. Shaq is a player you can build around. He is an unselfish player, but he understands their has to be a steady hierarchy in the way the team is ran. The way teams win nowadays are inside-out. The Lakers won because Shaq was the main option, going for 40 and 20 nearly every finals game. Look at last season, Shaq leaves and the Lakers drop from NBA Finalists to last place, behind the Clippers, even. On the other hand, he brings the Heat to one game of the finals while being injured the entire playoffs, and only getting help from D-Wade, the rest of the team was pretty much useless. Now that they have a better supporting cast, Shaq will keep them in line and their eyes on the prize.