Everyone needs a friend like Shaquille O'Neal.
Shaq recently revealed that he still keeps up with his former teammate and friend, Kobe Bryant, five years after his death. Shaq and Kobe played on the Lakers for eight seasons — 1996 to 2004 — and won three NBA championships together.
“I always check in on Kobe's mom. I check in on his mom once a month, make sure she's okay,” he told PEOPLE.
In addition to phone calls, he also sends Kobe's mom flowers.
“I just try to make her smile. I just try to do whatever I can, because I know it's tough,” he added.
“Their mom has been through a lot in a couple of years, and that takes a toll, and sometimes you just need somebody to just call to check on you,” Shaq continued. “I kind of know what it feels like with the passing of her son, but I don't know what it feels like to lose a son and a husband, so I'm sure she has a lot of pain that she's dealing with,” he says, referring to the death of Kobe's father, Joe Bryant. Joe died in 2024 from a stroke.
Not only does the four-time NBA champion check in on Kobe's mom, but also on his sisters, Sharia and Shaya.
“They live in Vegas. I'm in Vegas. I'm close with his sisters. I just call to check on them,” Shaq says.
Shaq is returning the favor as the late NBA star always “used to check in on my mom and dad.”
Shaquille O’Neal reflects on Kobe Bryant's death
Shaq has been open about the pain he's experienced since losing his friend and former teammate.
“I haven’t felt a pain that sharp in a while,” he said on TNT’s Remembering Kobe tribute in 2020 per CNN. “I lost a little brother.”
During his speech during Kobe's celebration of life event at the Staples Center that also honored his daughter Gianna “Gigi” Bryant who was tragically killed in the 2020 helicopter accident, Shaq spoke about he and the late NBA star's at times “complex” relationship.
“As many of you know, Kobe and I had a very complex relationship through the years,” O'Neal said in his speech, “but not unlike another leadership duo, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, whose creative rivalry led to some of the greatest music of all time.”
“Kobe and I pushed one another to play some of the greatest basketball of all time… And, yes, sometimes, like immature kids, we argued, we fought, we bantered or insulted each other with off-handed remarks,” O'Neal continued. “But make no mistake, even when folks thought we were on bad terms, when the cameras were turned off, he and I would throw a wink at each other and say, ‘Let's go whoop some a–.'”
Shaq believed that he would be able celebrate big milestones together later in life. “[I thought], ‘We're both going to get old. We'll both be at the 50-year Lakers anniversary,'” he told PEOPLE.
As Shaq admitted that they both put off getting in touch: I” just should have called. He should have called. We both should have called.
“Call your mom. Call your brother. Call the homeboy you used to party with in college,” Shaq urged. “Forever is a long time.”
Kobe died alongside his second-eldest daughter, Gianna “Gigi” Bryant, in January 2020 from a helicopter crash with seven others.
