Hours before the tragic death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant, the 41-year-old reached out to the son of longtime friend and former teammate Shaquille O’Neal, Shareef O'Neal.
Hours before the tragic death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant, the 41-year-old reached out to the son of longtime friend and former teammate Shaquille O’Neal, Shareef O'Neal.
"Wait..." he tweeted.
The 20-year-old then took to social media to share DM's from Bryant from that very morning.
"I love you man..thank you for everything you’ve done .. for this city , for the basketball world , and for me ... I won’t let you down .. you always counted on me and lifted me up. Love you unc," he concluded.
"I’m crying while reading these messages over ... even when I was at my worst you checked in on me so often .. I really appreciate you for that because I needed that so much.... i was so defeated sittin in that hospital everyday and I thought my basketball life was over .. you brought a smile to my face .. thank you . Love you," he wrote.
"GIGI, love you cousin," he wrote with a heart emoji.
The tweet got nearly 280,000 likes.
"Right above me every night I go to sleep."
He retweeted a fan's video discussing the gift Bryant gave Shareef.
"I'mma hold this forever."
"I’m Not Ready but here I go. Man I sitting here trying to write something for this post but every time I try I begin crying again just thinking about you, niece Gigi and the friendship/bond/brotherhood we had! I literally just heard your voice Sunday morning before I left Philly to head back to LA. Didn’t think for one bit in a million years that would be the last conversation we’d have. WTF!! I’m heartbroken and devastated my brother!!," he wrote.
"Please give me the strength from the heavens above and watch over me! I got US here! There’s so much more I want to say but just can’t right now because I can’t get through it! Until we meet again my brother!! #Mamba4Life#Gigi4Life," he concluded.