Shaquille O'Neal has spoken openly and honestly about his regret over his feud with former teammate Kobe Bryant before his passing.
Bryant, among eight others including his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, tragically lost their lives in the 2020 Calabasas helicopter crash, as they travelled to a basketball game at Bryant's Mamba Sports Academy. The deaths rocked the world after being confirmed by authorities, with the NBA in morning for Bryant, his daughter and the seven others.
O'Neal and Bryant had a highly-publicised falling out after their years of dominance with the Lakers, which lead to O'Neal leaving the team and joining the Miami Heat.
The two would continue to throw shade at each other for the better part of 10 years, before making up in a one-on-one players only interview. But O'Neal has stated that he wished he would have spoken to Bryant more often, and truly made amends for all of their disagreements.
Speaking to People, O'Neal said: "You put off [getting in touch]. 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. But he’s working, I’m working, so it’s ‘I’ll see you when I see you.
"I thought, ‘We’re both going to get old. We’ll both be at the 50-year Lakers anniversary. Other things shouldn’t have been more important [than getting in touch], but little things [got in the way]."
In 1996, the Lakers had one of the best off-seasons in NBA history, when they signed O'Neal after he left the Orlando Magic, after drafting Kobe Bryant with the 13th overall pick. A selection out of high school, Bryant was an unproven commodity after not playing against other college athletes.
Used sparingly in his rookie season, Bryant would quickly blossom into an elite scorer from the bench, before becoming a full-time starter with the Lakers, and establishing himself as their number two option behind the dominant O'Neal.
Going into his fourth season, Bryant began to dominate himself - with many making the comparisons between him and Michael Jordan, as he would go on to have an array of highlight plays as he and O'Neal won their first championship together.
Bryant continued to come on leaps and bounds, winning three NBA championships in consecutive years alongside O'Neal, with questions being asked on whether Bryant should be the main man. O'Neal would struggle to play in every game, with weight and injury issues seeing him play his way into shape during the season - something Bryant was critical about.
O'Neal took umbrage to this, which lead to the big man being unhappy with his situation with the Lakers, and demanded a trade - which was granted when he joined the Miami Heat.
As the years went on, Bryant and O'Neal made numerous negative comments about one another, failing to become friends until after O'Neal's retirement.
When speaking on their relationship, O'Neal said: "Kobe and I pushed one another to play some of the greatest basketball of all time. And, yes, sometimes, like immature kids, we argued. But make no mistake, even when folks thought we were on bad terms, when the cameras were turned off, he and I would throw a wink at each other and say, ‘Let’s go whoop some ass."
In a 2018 interview, the two former teammates sat down and apologised to one another, whilst speaking about their time with the Lakers.
O'Neal also had a front row seat to see Bryant's final ever game, when he scored 60 in a legendary performance against the Utah Jazz.
Bryant retired with five NBA championships, with O'Neal having four.
