Basketball star Shaquille O'Neal admitted he's still ''hurt'' by things he ''never said'' to teammate Kobe Bryant before his tragic death.
Shaquille O'Neal is still ''hurt'' by the things he ''never said'' to Kobe Bryant.
The 48-year-old retired basketball star was left heartbroken when his former LA Lakers teammate lost his life in a helicopter crash earlier this year, which also claimed the lives of Kobe's 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others.
And now, Shaquille has admitted there still things he wanted to say.
He told USA Today: ''I don't want to see anybody go out like that and never to be able to talk to him again.
''The thing that hurt me was all the stuff that I wanted to say, I hadn't said it. I never said it.''
Together, the pair made it to the NBA Finals on four occasions between 2000 and 2004 and won three championships in a row, despite both players sometimes taking jabs at each other both in the press and behind the scenes.
However, Shaq explained: ''There's a myth that you have to be best friends to win championships. We only have to have one thing, and that's respect.
''If he goes to the hole with four people coming, he's dropping it off to me. When I get double or triple-teamed, I look for him first.
''He knows I need him... I'm damn sure he knows he needs me. I was just hurt I would never be able to tell him anything ever again.''
Shaquille previously revealed he and his family are there for Kobe's widow, Vanessa Bryant, and their kids Natalia, 17, Bianka, three, and 13-month-old Capri - though he hasn't reached out to her since his passing.
He said: ''I haven't had a chance to talk to her, but hopefully she knows that, you know, my family, we're opening up our arms to her anytime for the rest of our lives.
''Hopefully her daughters will call me Uncle Shaq like my kids call Kobe Uncle Kobe. I'm not the type to bother people.
''People think that when you're on the team you have to do - we were never like that, we worked together and everybody has to go and do their thing. Definitely miss her. I got actually a shrine in my house I put up [for Kobe].''
On the same day that Glastonbury welcomed back Margate's adopted sons, The Libertines, Margate itself put on it's very own Leisure Festival as it...
Sheffield's very own all girl group Pretty Fierce are still on a high after the recent release of their debut single - 'Ready For Me'.
Three nights before the end of his current tour Will Varley returned to his home town of Deal to delight a sold out crowd in The Astor Theatre.
With only a few days to go before Portsmouth based songstress and producer WYSE releases her new single, 'Belladonna', we caught up with her to find...
Colorado raised, Glasgow educated and Manchester based Bay Bryan is nothing if not a multi-talented, multi-faceted artist performing as both...
Former Marigolds band member Keelan Cunningham has rediscovered his love of music with his new solo project Keelan X.
Wiltshire singer-songwriter Luke De Sciscio, formally known as Folk Boy, is set to release is latest album - 'The Banquet' via AntiFragile Music on...
Electronic music pioneer and producer Annie Elise says that the release of her first EP - 'Breathe In, Breathe Out' feels "both vulnerable and...
Jack Sadelstein loves his family. He loves his wife, Erin and he loves his two...
Hey, you know what's funny? False accusations of child molestation. That's just the most hilarious...