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'I wish he was still here': Shaq opens up about Kobe Bryant
As part of one of the best NBA duos in history, Shaquille O'Neal speaks to FOX 11's Brooke Thomas about Kobe Bryant.
LOS ANGELES - Those who knew Kobe Bryant are making sure his legacy stays alive and are sharing their favorite memories of him.
Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal will be remembered by NBA fans as one of the most dynamic duos in league history.
They are often mentioned with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, and fellow Laker legends Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Fans remember the two had a remarkable run, having won three NBA championships together from 2000-02.
Although O’Neal and Bryant’s chemistry stalled and their dynamic took a turn for that worse when the LA Lakers collapsed in the NBA Finals against the Pistons in 2004, the two were able to rekindle their friendship.
RELATED: ‘Deep respect and love’: Shaquille O’Neal shares emotional memories of Kobe Bryant at memorial
In a tweet that has since been deleted, Shaq’s son, Shareef, shared he had reached out to Kobe on the morning of Jan. 26, 2020 and that Bryant responded. Shortly after, the world was stunned when they found out Kobe and his teen daughter, Gianna, were among the nine people who were killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas.
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Shaq told FOX 11's Brooke Thomas he has "a lot of memories" when it comes to Kobe.
He has a picture in his house that shows what the two of them may have looked like decades from now with gray hair. The two were supposed to grow old together.
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"This is a picture I always imagined. Someone did a mockup of 70-year-old Kobe and 75-year-old me and I actually had it blown up and I actually l have that picture in my house and I look at it every day," he said. "If I had one wish, I wish that he was still here and we could possibly have that moment."
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