After retired Los Angeles Lakers Hall of Fame center Shaquille O'Neal spoke from the heart, retired power forward Charles Barkley, his colleague on the NBA on TNT broadcast, shared his own powerful reaction to the sudden and tragic death of Kobe Bryant and 13-year-old daughter Gianna.

“I just started crying — I'm not gonna lie — I just started crying. I don't even have that type of relationship with Kobe, but he was part of the basketball fabric of my sixteen years in the NBA, my nineteen years on TNT — he was like one of my kids.

Watch Barkley's entire reaction below.

Both Barkley and O'Neal, the latter of whom spent eight years as Bryant's teammate in L.A., winning three consecutive championships and often clashing personally, were overcome with visible emotion and tears during TNT's pre-game show on Tuesday.

As much of the NBA community and sports world were in the last 48 hours, Bryant's death was a seismic loss for hundreds of thousands of people mourning the terrible accident in California on Sunday.

Despite Barkley and O'Neal cultivating tough, albeit goofy, personalities, particularly since their shared retirement and broadcast careers, neither Hall of Fame big man could stop themselves from becoming overwhelmed with emotion when discussing Bryant's death.

Bryant meant so much and more to the game of basketball, retiring after the 2015-16 season—twenty years in the NBA all with the Lakers, winning five titles and an MVP award along with eighteen All-Star nods.

Barkley, a legend in his own right, still recognizes the importance of Kobe Bryant's legacy.