Shaquille O’Neal was struck hard by Kobe Bryant‘s sudden death in 2020. The Hall of Famer has expressed candidly his regrets for not speaking with him more frequently while he was still alive and the challenges he faced in coming to terms with his death. The lesson it imparted to him was priceless: life is too short and unpredictably unpredictable to waste time harboring grudges.
How is O’Neal handling the fact that his “little brother” is no longer reachable by phone? was the question posed to him during a recent interview. Before providing excellent counsel, he spoke straight and said that he has been in contact with his family, especially following the death of Bryant’s father Joe. He said,
“It’s hard [dealing with Kobe Bryant’s death]. I always tell people, especially our people. We’re petty. We’ll argue about something and wouldn’t talk to the person for four, five, six years. So, my advice is, hey, one of your homeboys, you haven’t hollered at them, shoot them a text.”
O’Neal’s advice was based on his own interactions with his previous running buddy. After the guard retired, the two were able to patch things up after more than ten years of disagreement.
The pair’s relationship was tense even though they had great success together, but they made compromises to keep it going for as long as they could.
