Shaq's Son Shareef O'Neal Pays Amazing Tribute to Kobe Bryant With the Greatest Lakers Jacket of All Time
By Scott Rogust
We got an early glimpse of what kind of year 2020 was destined to be after the world found out that Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven other individuals were killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, Calif. in January. It's been four months, but it still stings that the creator of the Mamba Mentality is no longer with us.
Shareef O'Neal, the son of Shaquille O'Neal, was floored by Bryant's death. O'Neal revealed that Kobe messaged him just hours before the tragic accident. To pay tribute to his mentor, O'Neal posted photos on Saturday of him wearing the very same jacket that Bryant wore after the Lakers secured the three-peat back in 2002.
Lakers fans are no doubt having some flashbacks to when the team won their third-consecutive NBA Championship just by looking at that jacket.
The coat isn't the only piece of Kobe memorabilia he owns. O'Neal revealed that he has the co-MVP trophy for the 2009 NBA All-Star Game that his father and Bryant won. After the game, Kobe told Shaq to give the award to Shareef. With that gesture, the years-long beef between the two was officially squashed.
While Bryant is gone, O'Neal will never forget him, thanks in part to the various keepsakes that the Black Mamba gifted to him.