Shaquille O’Neal Reveals Why He Won’t Watch Kobe Bryant’s Hall of Fame Ceremony

We’ve read so much about the misunderstanding between Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. There have been a lot of stories about their feud. Shaquille left the Los Angeles Lakers in 2004, many thought that he left just because of Kobe.

Yes, there was something like this, but everything changed since that point. Shaq and Kobe became really good friends.

Kobe lost his life in a helicopter crash, and he was elected to this year’s Hall of Fame. But, Shaq won’t watch it. The NBA legend said he has no plans of watching the Hall of Fame ceremony. Wonder why? It’s too painful.

“I’m actually not going to watch the Hall of Fame ceremony,” the former Lakers big said on a recent episode of “The Big Podcast with Shaq,” via Shanna McCarriston of CBS Sports. “On the scale of sadness from 1 to 10, I’m finally at least at a 2 now… That would bring it back to a 7, 8, 9 and I can’t right now. So I don’t want to see old highlights that I’m already watching now.”

Shaquille and Kobe were great friends

Shaq was really affected by Kobe’s death. He couldn’t believe that his dear friend was gone. He admitted that he had trouble sleeping at night following the crash. Prior to Kobe’s death, Shaq lost his sister to cancer. Handling these tragedies was just too much for him.

The legend found the strength to move on with his life. But, hearing all those tributes would only open his wounds. Hearing the tributes given for the Black Mamba during the Hall of Fame ceremony would only give him pain.

A lot of athletes feel the same way. Just the thought of Kobe’s death gives us pain. He was an icon and an incredible mentor. Young players enjoyed learning new things from him. He had so much to offer.

Losing Bryant was the worst way to start the new year. The world is now stuck with another catastrophe. COVID-19 shut down every league in the world. Everyone is staying at home. When will the whole thing end? We don’t know. It won’t happen in the near future.