Basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal has burst into tears as he opened up about the death of Kobe Bryant whom he played together with for the Lakers between 1996 and 2004.
Despite the feud between the two stars, Shaq expressed his pain over the loss of his former teammate and said he feels like he had just lost his “little brother.”
During his tribute at the Staples Center, 47-year-old Shaq recalled the moment he learned of Kobe’s death from his nephew while he and his son were working out in the basement.
“I snapped at him and said ‘man get that out my face,’” he said as his tears started flowing down his cheeks.
As Shaq added, he initially refused to believe his nephew but was soon overcome with calls and texts informing him about Kobe’s chopper crash.
“I haven’t felt a pain that sharp in a while,” O’Neal added.
“Lost two grandmothers, lost a Father, lost my sister… and now I lost a little brother.”
As the 47-year-old added in his speech, Bryant’s sudden death made him realize he should reach out to his loved ones more often.
“I don’t talk to you guys as much as I need to … The fact that we won’t get to joke around at his Hall of Fame ceremony…” he said.
“If we would have stayed together we could have got 10. Those are the things we can’t get back.”
Previously, the sportsman also took to Twitter to pay a tribute to Bryant.
“There’s no words to express the pain I’m going through with this tragedy of losing my niece Gigi & my brother @kobebryant I love u and u will be missed,” he wrote in his post.
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