Kobe Bryant dead: Shaquille O'Neal remembers late NBA star as 'more than an athlete'

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Jim Gray on NBA star Kobe Bryant's final interview in uniform

Jim Gray discusses the passing of Kobe Bryant in a helicopter crash that claimed five lives.

Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal were teammates for several years and won three NBA championships helping the Los Angeles Lakers to another dynasty in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Bryant and his daughter Gianna were among those killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday in California. Seven other people were also believed to have died, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.

O’Neal tweeted his reaction to the news of their passing.

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“There’s no words to express the pain Im going through with this tragedy of loosing my neice Gigi & my brother @kobebryant I love u and u will be missed. My condolences goes out to the Bryant family and the families of the other passengers on board. IM SICK RIGHT NOW,” O’Neal tweeted.

He later added: “Kobe was so much more than an athlete, he was a family man. That was what we had most in common. I would hug his children like they were my own and he would embrace my kids like they were his. His baby girl Gigi was born on the same day as my youngest daughter Me’Arah.”

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Bryant and O’Neal were on dominant Lakers teams and although a rift may have split them apart, the two reconnected in recent years once their playing days were over.

O’Neal said in 2018 he realized he needed to end their feud after the 2009 All-Star Game. O’Neal and Bryant were co-MVPs in the game, The Washington Post noted.

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“You told me to take the trophy home,” O’Neal said. “I took it home and gave it to [my son] Shareef. I realized then that I may have messed something up. Because a lot of times that our beef was going on, you know me, I’m the master of marketing. About 60 percent of the time, I was just saying to keep it going.

“I was an a— to this guy [Bryant] so I owe you an apology. I’m going to give you an apology but we’re not going to be doing all that crying like Magic and Isiah. Thank you for that moment because Shareef loved that moment. …He loves you for that and I love you for that moment.”