CLEVELAND — Former Cleveland Cavaliers center Shaquille “Shaq” O’Neal had a tenuous relationship with guard Kobe Bryant during his eight seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, but the two created a bond through championship runs that will not soon be forgotten.
In the hours following the untimely passing of Bryant, along with his daughter, Gianna, and seven others in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California Sunday, O’Neal took to Twitter to express his grief of the tragic losses.
“There’s no words to express the pain I’m going through with this tragedy of losing my niece, Gigi, and my brother, Kobe Bryant,” O’Neal wrote. “I love you and you will be missed. My condolences go out to the Bryant family and the families of the other passengers on board. I’M SICK RIGHT NOW.”
Together, O’Neal and Bryant formed one of the more unique one-two punches in Lakers history, but it was a successful combination.
The fun-loving O’Neal and Bryant, an intense competitor to a fault who accepted nothing short of winning, combined to win three championships in their eight years together in Los Angeles, putting the Lakers in rare company of teams that brought home three straight titles.
RELATED | ‘You were my idol.’ Cleveland Browns QB Baker Mayfield remembers Kobe Bryant after tragic passing
Bryant entered the professional ranks straight out of Lower Merion High School in the Philadelphia suburb of Ardmore, Pennsylvania.
Originally selected by the Charlotte Hornets and traded to the Lakers in the summer before his rookie season, Bryant was the first guard to be taken in the first round of the NBA Draft straight out of high school, and that proved to be a great decision for the Lakers.
Bryant scored 33,643 points, pulled down 7,047 rebounds, handed out 6,306 assists, converted 44.7 percent of his 26,200 shots from the field and knocked down 1,827 three-pointers in his 20 seasons with the Lakers.
In addition to his statistics, Bryant’s success can be measured by the five championship teams he was a part of and the tireless work ethic and competitiveness, both on and off the court that led him to retire as the then-game’s No. 3 overall scorer.