“You Can Tell, He Misses Kobe”: Emotions Sweep NBA Fans as Shaquille O’Neal Makes Easy Choice at LA’s Comebaq Court

A good few would love to sit with Shaquille O’Neal at an NBA game. But who would he want to sit courtside with? The answer is obvious. Fans weren’t even surprised when he uttered Kobe Bryant. They were, of course, endeared by how much the big fella misses the Black Mamba and wants to enjoy a game with him again.

Shaq reminisced about the mood he shared with Bryant courtside during one of his charity ventures. By his account, Kobe Bryant was the best person to be seated next to.

Shaquille O’Neal had the best time with Kobe Bryant

In 1996, the Los Angeles Lakers signed Shaquille O’Neal and selected Kobe Bryant in the NBA draft. They created a dominating partnership on the court. Off the court, a lot was speculated. But Shaq only remembers the good bits.

Recently, O’Neal donated towards the refurbishment of a South L.A. basketball court for the Boys and Girls Club. The initiative is under his foundation’s initiative, Comebaq Court that is restoring community sports facilities. Fans caught up with the big man at the reopening of the court, including Rachel DeMita.

When she asked which person he’d love to sit courtside with, Shaq stated the obvious. “The Kobester.” He’d further reveal that it was a thing between both of them to sit courtside and gossip about the other players.

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“We could talk about people. How good they are, how good they think they are. But we always used to do that anyway. Just talkin’ about ‘look at this guy.’ Especially when we played Sacramento or teams that had all the great players. But that was what I used to do you know, to pump him up,” explained the 4-time NBA champion.

The Shaq-Kobe era of the Lakers and the Sacramento Kings had an intense rivalry. Some of the commenters were reminded of their most famous clashes. Though they were tickled imagining the two Lakers titans gossiping about their rivals courtside.

Lakers fans get nostalgic over Shaq-Kobe duo

Fans were so moved by Shaq’s response and emotions about Bryant that they poured into the comments. “You can tell he misses Kobe, the big Fella,” one wrote under DeMita’s video.

Some had already guessed Shaq’s answer would be Kobe. “We knew shaq wasn’t gonna say anyone else,” an Instagram user commented. Others were just emotionally mad at those onion-cutting ninjas. “Who cutting onions,” one wrote among the many tear-filled emojis.

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“I am glad he mentioned Kings that refs did so bad against him and Kobe,” someone mentioned. The argument about officiating has been a sore spot among Lakers and Kings fans for years. We wonder if they were a subject of discussion in Shaq and Kobe’s courtside talks.

Regardless of what they used to talk, one fan stated the absolute truth. “Shaq and Kobe will always be an iconic duo.”