Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant engaged in one of the NBA’s most infamous feuds during the course of their time together as teammates on the Lakers. Though the pair was able to patch up their relationship before Bryant’s sudden death in a helicopter crash in 2020, O’Neal admitted that he has significant regrets about letting the tension between the two linger.
“You put off [getting in touch],” O’Neal told People magazine. “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.’”
On the court, O’Neal and Bryant teamed up to form a tenacious duo that led Los Angeles to three consecutive championships from 2000 to ’02. With two of the best players in the league at the time, the Phil Jackson-led Lakers were poised to form one of the greatest dynasties ever seen in sports.
