“I just should have called” Shaquille O’Neal opens up about his complicated relationship with Kobe Bryant
Follow Us
Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant
The 4-time NBA champion, Shaquille O’Neal is perhaps the most dominant player in basketball history. Known more popularly as Diesel, is also applauded for his charity and big heart in real life. Despite winning 3 consecutive championships together, the Los Angeles Lakers teammates O’Neal and Kobe Bryant had a very complicated relationship during their Lakers stint.
Kobe and O’Neal played 9 seasons together with the Lakers before O’Neal publicly requested a trade from Los Angeles. As time went by Bryant and O’Neal began to patch things up and started to have a candid relationship, although they never got very close to each other since their breakup in Los Angeles.
Speaking to People’s magazine, about both of them not being able to reconnect and patch things up, Shaquille O’Neal also said that he had given thought about two of them reconnecting again after Kobe’s retirement from basketball.
For hopeful O’Neal, he genuinely thought that both of them would get old and meet each other at the 50-year Lakers anniversary. But just like the mistakes we make in everyday life.
Shaq said, “Other things shouldn’t have been more important [than getting in touch], but little things [got in the way].”
O’Neal also opened up about his relationship with Bryant and his life without Kobe. Reflecting on his past, heavy-hearted O’Neal said, “I’ll never get to see Kobe again, in real life, forever. And I just should have called. He should have called. We both should have called.”
Since Kobe’s death Shaquille O’Neal has always had one message for people; to reconnect. O’Neal told People that Kobe’s demise came as a huge shock for him, but time is yet to give him a perspective on his former friend’s untimely demise.
However, Shaq has advice for people who are trying to reconnect with their family, “Call your mom. Call your brother. Call the homeboy you used to party with in college,” he said. “Forever is a long time.“
Also Read: Bronny James who once beefed with OnlyFans model, coldly shuts her down after advance made on him
Shaquille O’Neal says his relationship with Kobe Bryant was like John Lennon and Paul McCartney
Despite the fact that O’Neal and Bryant had a turbulent relationship, there is no denying that the pair gave basketball fans some of the greatest basketball memories. The two superstars were two alphas in the same locker room, and hence friction is inevitable. From 2000 to 2002 Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal won three NBA championships together before O’Neal requested a trade in 2004, which got him sent to Miami Heat.
Speaking of their relationship during their time with the Lakers, O’Neal said they had a complex relationship but “pushed one another to play some of the greatest basketball of all time” like “John Lennon and Paul McCartney, whose creative rivalry led to some of the greatest music of all time.”
Shaquille O’Neal was the face of dominance in the NBA and Kobe Bryant was the resurrection of Michael Jordan but later on, created his own legend of ‘Mamba Mentality’ that still beats in our hearts and guides many of our lives.
After the trade, both players went on to succeed with their individual teams and win championships. O’Neal won his next championship with Dwayne Wade and the Miami Heat in 2006 and Bryant went on to win 2 more championships and 2 finals MVP awards for the Los Angeles Lakers. Bryant died on 26 January 2020 in a helicopter crash. Among the others who lost their lives in the crash was also his daughter Gianna Bryant.
Also Read: Watch: Kai Jones’ wild REVERSE DUNK makes Hornets announcer go crazy
Do follow us on Google News | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Stay Updated!
Nandjee Ranjan
(488 Articles Published)