
via Getty
Lakers Kobe Bryant, left, celebrates his 48 points with Shaquille O’Neal after defeating the Kings in Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals at the Arco Arena in Sacramento. (Photo by Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

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Lakers Kobe Bryant, left, celebrates his 48 points with Shaquille O’Neal after defeating the Kings in Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals at the Arco Arena in Sacramento. (Photo by Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant were part of the Lakers team that won the three-peat during the early 2000s. The duo had brilliant chemistry on the court and a successful stint with the Lakers. However, they weren’t the best of friends off the court and their feud became one of the biggest talking points during that decade.
The Shaq & Kobe feud started with the difference in opinion and their roles on the court for the Lakers. However, as Shaq left the Lakers for Miami Heat, their feud de-escalated. After Shaq’s retirement, they became close friends. In fact, Kobe became a close guardian of Shaq’s son, Shareef.

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Los Angeles Lakers Shaquille O’Neal, left, shares a laugh with Kobe Bryant on the bench during a preseason game against the Los Angeles Clippers at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim Thursday, October 23, 2003. (Photo by Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Kobe even texted Shareef just hours before his tragic death in a helicopter crash. Shareef was so close to Kobe that he once saw clouds forming the number eight and remembered Kobe from it. Now, Shareef has shared a rare picture of himself and Kobe.
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Shaquille O’Neal’s son, Shareef, shares his childhood picture with Kobe Bryant
Shareef, who plays for LSU Tigers, recently shared a rare picture from his childhood with Kobe Bryant. It is an old selfie taken by baby Shareef with Kobe in the background. His Twitter post is captioned: “Unseen photo❤️ miss you Unc.”
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Unseen photo❤️ miss you Unc pic.twitter.com/DLg5Elyd10
— Shareef O’Neal (@SSJreef) December 17, 2021
Shareef O’Neal has always admired Kobe Bryant and never fails to show respect to him. Shareef is also a basketball player and currently plays for LSU Tigers Basketball in the Southeastern Conference. He previously played for UCLA Bruins Basketball. However, after two years, he transferred himself to LSU, where his father played for three years.
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But Shareef’s college career hasn’t been very smooth as he was a redshirt during the entire 2018-19 season with UCLA Bruins as he went through heart surgery. However, he came back the next season and played 13 games averaging 2.2 PPG. Shaquille O’Neal is an LSU Hall of Famer and even has a bronze statue in front of the LSU Basketball Practice Facility.
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