Shaquille O'Neal Initially Thought 'Brother' Kobe Bryant's Death Was A 'Hoax' & Reveals His One Regret About Their Friendship

Shaquille O’Neal isn’t just mourning the loss of a former teammate, but a “brother.”

Kobe Bryant‘s sudden death has hit hard with many following the tragic helicopter crash which took his life, 13-year-old daughter Gianna‘s, and seven others. While the two NBA greats’ feud played out as they starred on the Los Angeles Lakers together from 1996 to 2004, their rivalry eventually turned them into family.

Related: Kobe Bryant Filed To Trademark Gianna’s Nickname One Month Before Crash

As we previously reported, Shaq paid tribute to the late pro athlete on Instagram as his son, Shareef, posted screenshots of his last conversation with the legendary basketball star, including a message sent by Bryant earlier that morning. The 47-year-old O’Neal wrote alongside a slideshow of pictures:

“There are no words to express the pain I’m going through now with this tragic and sad moment of loosing my neice Gigi & my friend, my brother, my partner in winning championships, my dude and my homie. I love you and you will be missed. My condolences goes out to the Bryant family and the families of the other passengers on board. IM SICK RIGHT NOW !”

On Monday, Shaquille continued to honor Kobe on his podcast The Big Podcast With Shaq, revealing he originally thought the news was a hoax and how he’s “going to hurt for a long, long time.”

The former Lakers star opened up about mourning his loss while still grieving his sister, Ayesha Harrison Dex, who died in October after battling cancer:

“I’m not doing well. I’m sick. I’m just getting over the death of my sister… I haven’t been sleeping since [her] death, because it’s just, you know, not thinking about just the good times but thinking about the times where I could’ve [done something], or I could’ve said something, or I could’ve loved them more, or I could’ve shown them more support. And the same thing hit when I found out this news. I was downstairs working out with Shaqir when my other son showed me the TMZ clip.”

When he was shown the footage from the crash scene, Shaq says he “yelled” at his son to “get that s**t out of my face” since he didn’t believe it was real:

“I didn’t want to believe it. Then everybody’s calling me, ‘Is that true? Is it true?’ So I’m like, it must not be a hoax because the whole world knows this information. So now I’m saying, please don’t be true. Please don’t be true, please don’t be true. And I’m watching and then you get the confirmation. sad enough and then you know his daughter [Gigi] was with him. I didn’t do anything. I haven’t eaten. I haven’t slept. I’m looking at all the tapes. I’m sick right now.”

So heartbreaking.

And despite their former on-court rivalry, Shaq described Bryant as being family to him:

“Our relationship was that of brothers. We are brothers. When I saw Kobe and his daughters, loved them. When he saw my kids, loved them. If you looked at my kids’ Instagram… he talked to [Shareef O’Neal] yesterday morning… so all the stuff that is documented between us, it was never a dislike, it’s just, listen, this is what brothers do. I have a younger brother, we fight all the time but guess what? I love him. And I love Kobe Bryant. I’m the first say hey, I got four rings and I know I couldn’t have gotten three without him […] I’m glad we became closer. But I just sit back and say, what if. What if?”

But sadly, there’s always the question of “what if,” like what Shaq would have done differently in their relationship:

“I wish I would’ve communicated more. But again, that’s just how we are.”

He further explained:

“Of course, when we saw each other it was love and respect and he looked out for the kids and I kept an eye on his daughter Gigi, she was a fabulous player. I just wish I could’ve talked to him like before. That’s it. Everything that happened, happened. A lot of people like to look at the negative side but as a Laker fan, the plan worked out perfectly. We won three in a row.”

And we know he’ll continue to be there for the Bryants, as he already made sure to be in touch with Kobe’s wife, Vanessa, as well as her sister to share his condolences on Sunday:

“My heart goes out to Vanessa because she lost two. She lost her beautiful Gigi who was born on the same day as my 13-year-old and that’s what really hurts. Stuff like this will always hurt.”

Sharing more pictures of Kobe on his IG yesterday, it’s clear O’Neal is hurting. In another caption, he penned:

“Kobe was so much more than an athlete, he was a family man. That was what we had most in common. We love our families. Whenever we got together I would hug his children like they were my own and he would embrace my kids like they were his. His baby girl Gianna was born on the same day as my youngest daughter Me’Arah. I miss you already brother. This is truly unbelievable. Everyone please keep the Bryant’s [sic] in your prayers.
R.I.P”

And posted two more IGTV clips from their time together:

Kobe may be gone, but he will never be forgotten.

[Image via WENN/Instar]