Shaquille O'Neal continues to have regret over not reaching out to his longtime Laker teammate, Kobe Bryant, before he tragically passed away in 2020.
In a candid moment during his appearance on The Pivot podcast, the NBA legend expressed deep remorse for not getting the chance to reach out to his longtime teammate or his younger sister, Ayesha O'Neal, who both passed away within months of each other. According to Shaq, those two deaths were the most disappointing moments in his life as he didn't get to say "I love you" to either of them.
Shaq explained that he was flying back from a meeting when his sister passed away, and the only thing he got to say to her was that he would see her the following day. As for Kobe, who passed months after Ayesha, Shaq says he could have texted him despite their lingering issues.
"I can't call my little sister who was perfect [...] never asked me for nothing," said Shaq. "Never bothered nobody. Third time catching cancer, never complained [...] never even let me know she was sick and the fact I couldn't tell herI love her."
He continued, "And then, my boy, we did great things together. Despite the problems y'all thought we had, we made history together. We are the most dominant, enigmatic one-two punch ever created—never to be duplicated."
O'Neal, who won three championships alongside Bryant, didn't hold back in praising their legendary legacy: "Matter fact the number one Laker duo in history. And you can tell Magic and Kareem I said it—write it down, send it to them, text it to them, fax it to them, muthafucking put it on a pigeon fly it to them."
Beyond the accolades, Shaq's message was a call for people to reconcile and embrace love as opposed to being too busy or holding on to grudges with former friends and family.
"The fact that I couldn't tell my sister and my boy I love you one last time [...] that haunts me," he admitted. "I urge people man reach out to your loved ones. Reach out to your exes, reach out to your enemies, reach out to your boys who you separated from.You know just to check on them."
Since Bryant's untimely death, O'Neal has spoken often about the pain of their unfinished conversation. In 2020, Shaq spoke about wanting to speak to him one last time on his show, The Big Podcast With Shaq.
