Newly announced 2016 Hall of Fame class member Shaquille O’Neal will never escape Kobe Bryant. On a day when he should have been celebrating, he was discussing his former teammate. On his podcast The BIG Podcast with Shaq, O’Neal weighed in on Bryant’s retirement tour. Shaq said:
I’m super jealous. I wanted a Shaq tour, man. I did. Like, I never said this but this is killing me. It did. So, you know, I had two years in Boston. I got hurt my first year, but the second year, we were going to plan a whole Shaq tour. I’m super jealous. I wanted a Shaq tour.
You can certainly understand where Shaq is coming from, and for him to admit that he’s jealous of Kobe says a lot. Elite athlete’s are amazing individuals, but they’re still human, and have fragilities. Shaq went on to say:
But still, I wanted to just go to the city, and people see me play my last game. I did. I’m like – at first I tried to suck it up, but I can’t. It’s killing me.
The best athletes spend their entire playing careers receiving adulation and adoration from millions of fans. When their playing time comes to an end, that’s often a bitter pill to swallow. A farewell tour makes the end a lot more manageable.