Shaquille O'Neal on Kobe Bryant: 'I should have called him'

In the HBO documentary titled 'Shaq,' NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal expressed his "regret" that he was no longer able to speak to former teammate and NBA legend Kobe Bryant.

On January 26, 2020, Bryant and his daughter Gigi,  were involved in a tragic helicopter crash, during which both lost their lives along with seven other people.

In the documentary, O'Neal said, “I'll never see Kobe again, in real life. I should have called him."

We retrace the journey that saw the birth of one of the greatest combinations in NBA history.

The pair got their start in the 1996 season under then-Los Angeles Lakers general manager Jerry West. Shaq claimed at the time that he would become the best player in the NBA.

In the pair's inaugural season, the Lakers reached the Western Conference Semifinals. With two minutes left and O'Neal fouled, Bryant continued to play resulting in the Lakers being eliminated.

Between 1997 and 1999, O'Neal grew increasingly frustrated with Bryant for his "one-on-one" approach and was unwilling to wait for him to mature as a player.

The start of the 1999 season saw the arrival of a six-time NBA champion with the Chicago Bulls, Phil Jackson. With the implementation of the triangle offense, the greatest NBA duo was about to arrive.

Between 1999 and 2002, the Lakers won the NBA championship three times, with young star Kobe averaging over 25 points per game and Shaq averaging nearly 30 per game.

Prior to the 2003 season, the two players' comments about each other became increasingly scathing, with O'Neal stating that the Lakers were his team and if Kobe didn't like it, he might as well walk away.

Throughout the season, against head coach Phil Jackson's orders, the duo continued to tell reporters about the growing tension between them.

Despite the obvious conflict between the two players, the Lakers made it to the 2004 NBA Finals against the Detroit Pistons. However, after five games, they were beaten in dominating fashion by the Pistons.

In 2004 O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat after the Lakers declined a salary increase. The following day, Bryant signed a seven-year, $136 million contract with the Lakers, as reported in thesportsrush.com with speculation that Kobe orchestrated the entire move.

Both went on to win multiple NBA titles. O'Neal had one with the Heat in 2006 and Bryant had two more with the Lakers in 2009 and 2010.

In 2019, in an interview between the two superstars, O'Neal famously reflected on how he "tore his house apart" when Kobe won one more title than him during their careers.

After a few kind words from Shaq over the years, the world finally saw them reunite as friends again at the 2009 All-Star Game when Kobe insisted they both be named All-Star MVP.

Since retiring, the two have very rarely been seen together, which Shaq says was due to the workload the pair had during that time.

After Bryant's untimely and horrific death, O'Neal reflected on the grief of his passing saying, "he was my little brother." It was like "being stabbed in the heart".

In his documentary that aired on Nov. 23, 2022, Shaq said, "Kobe and I have had a very complex relationship over the years." He went on to say, "Kobe and I pushed each other to play some of the greatest basketball of all time."