Shaquille O'Neal Recalls His Favorite Memories With Kobe Bryant Both On Court And Off!

Source: eonline.com

Some of sports’ most known names were in attendance at the 2020 NBA All-Star weekend earlier tonight but because of Kobe Bryant’s tragic passing last month, the event was rather bittersweet. That being said, a lot of stars including Common, Magic Johnson, Jennifer Hudson, Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal took a moment during the final game, to pay tribute to the late basketball legend.

As you know, Kobe lost his life alongside his second-born daughter, Gianna, who was only 13, in a helicopter crash on January 26.

O’Neal also chatted with E! News and shared one of his favorite moments with Kobe, since they had a close relationship off court, and also talked about how special the NBA All-Star weekend was this year.

‘Just him taking the time to talk to my kids. Unfortunately for me, even though I was still a great player, I am not my kids’ favorite player… For [Kobe] to take time to text my babies, to check up on them… It was special,’ he dished.

He also went on to state that he tried to do the same with Kobe’s daughters.

‘I reciprocated the exact same energy when I saw his girls. I always just walked up to them and said, ‘Hey beautiful ladies. My name’s uncle Shaq.’’

But of course, there were some wonderful moments he will never forget that happened on court as well!

Shaq recalled that ‘My favorite moment with him on court was after winning the very first championship. Out of the thousand of people in the arena, the only one guy running and jumping in my arms was… it was him. [The NBA All-Star weekend has] been very crazy, it has been very hectic. It has been down/up weekend, of course, without the great Kobe Bryant. But I think we are doing a great job of celebrating.’