Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna were two of nine people that were killed in a helicopter crash in Southern California on Sunday, devastating fans of the legendary NBA player as well as those close to them. Fellow NBA star Shaquille O’Neal discussed Bryant’s death during his podcast, The BIG Podcast with Shaq, sharing that he’s “not doing well.”
O’Neal told his listeners that he was still grieving his sister’s death when he got the news about Bryant.
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“I’m sick,” he said. “I’m just getting over the death of my sister. You guys told me the other day when I came in that I looked like I needed some rest.”
“I haven’t been sleeping after Ayesha’s death because [I’m] just not thinking about the good times, but thinking about the times when I could have [done] something or I could have done something different or I could have loved her more or I could have showed her more support,” he continued. “And, the same thing hit when I found out this news.”
The 47-year-old revealed that he wasn’t eating or sleeping in the wake of the tragic news.
“[It was] sad enough, then you hear his daughter was with him,” O’Neal said. “I haven’t eaten. I haven’t slept. I’m looking at all the tapes, but I’m sick right now.”
“This one’s gonna hurt for a long, long time,” he continued. “I just wish he was here. I wish I could say something to him. My heart goes out to Vanessa because she lost two. I have a little brother, but I lost a brother yesterday.”
O’Neal shared that he was working out with his son Shaqir when his son Greg showed him an article about the crash.
“I yelled at Greg, I said, ‘Yo, man, get that s— out of my face. Get that out my face,’ because you know about all the internet hoaxes and all that,” he said. “I figured someone was just playing around. I didn’t want to believe it.”
O’Neal explained that reality hit when “everybody” started calling him to ask whether the news was real.
The former Laker first shared a tribute to Bryant on Instagram on Monday with a slideshow of photos of himself and Bryant.
“There are no words to express the pain I’m going through now with this tragic and sad moment of loosing (sic) my neice (sic) Gigi & my friend, my brother, my partner in winning championships, my dude and my homie,” he wrote. “I love you and you will be missed. My condolences goes out to the Bryant family and the families of the other passengers on board. IM SICK RIGHT NOW !”
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“Kobe was so much more than an athlete, he was a family man,” O’Neal wrote in a second post. “That was what we had most in common. We love our families. Whenever we got together I would hug his children like they were my own and he would embrace my kids like they were his. His baby girl Gianna was born on the same day as my youngest daughter Me’Arah. I miss you already brother. This is truly unbelievable. Everyone please keep the Bryant’s in your prayers. R.I.P.”
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Photo Credit: Getty / Andrew D. Bernstein
