Kobe Bryant Celebration of Life Viewers Frustrated About Technical Difficulties During Shaquille O’Neal’s Speech

Fans who tuned in to watch Kobe Bryant‘s celebration of life memorial service Monday were left frustrated after Shaquille O’Neal took the stage at Staples Center to deliver a moving speech that was interrupted by technical difficulties. Delivering an emotional tribute to the late Lakers legend, which included the abrupt dropping of an F-bomb, several moments of O’Neal’s speech were cut out.

“BROOOO how you gonna experience technical difficulties right when Shaq starts to speak WTFF!!!!” wrote one viewer, sharing a screenshot of the ESPN logo their screen cut to.

“Nooooo technical difficulties when Shaq about to speak,” commented another, adding a string of varying crying and upset emojis. “NOO.”

Although upsetting, some viewers felt that the technical difficulties were really Bryant having the last laugh.

“Kobe interrupting Shaq’s speech shows that he still finds a way to mess with him even after death,” reacted one person.

“You can’t tell me that Kobe wasn’t the one who was messing with the cables during [Shaquille O’Neal’s] speech. That was too perfect,” tweeted somebody else. “Plus electronic interference is said to be caused by the supernatural. I’m joking obviously but doesn’t it seem like something he’d do to ease that moment?”

“Anyone think it was weird when the connection cut out when Shaq when up to talk,” asked another viewer. “Maybe It was Kobe getting a laugh in.”

“The feed got cut during Shaq’s speech which let’s me know you’re allowed to troll your friends after death,” tweeted somebody else.

During his emotional speech, O’Neal recalled the moment he learned of the Mamba Mentality and “the day Kobe gained my respect,” sharing a story of Bryant’s refusal to pass the ball and his statement that while there is no “I” in team, “‘there’s a M-E in that mother–er.’”

Acknowledging that Bryant was “taken away from us way too soon,” O’Neal concluded his speech by promising to “rise from anguish and begin with the healing” and “continue your legacy.”