Helicopter in Kobe Bryant’s Death Lacked Key Warning System: Live Coverage

Bryant’s death came only months after O’Neal’s sister died of cancer, leaving O’Neal grieving and unable to sleep well. The latest loss only compounded that pain, he said, and was made worse when he learned that Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, was also on the helicopter. He said he had asked Gianna and Bryant’s other three daughters to call him “Uncle Shaq.”

“It makes me think that in life, sometimes instead of holding back certain things, we should just do,” he said.

Emotion welled up in his voice throughout the appearance, but when a fellow sportscaster tried to offer him a break, O’Neal stopped him.

“Hold on,” he said. He had more he wanted to say.

“I think a lot of times we take stuff for granted,” O’Neal continued, noting that he would not be able to joke with Bryant at his Hall of Fame ceremony, and that they could no longer rib each other about who had been more successful or dream about what could have been if O’Neal had not been traded and the duo had stayed together on the Lakers for longer.

“It definitely changes me,” O’Neal said. “I work a lot, you guys know. I work probably more than the average guy. But I just really have to now take time and call and say, ‘I love you.’”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/29/sports/basketball/kobe-bryant-death.html?emc=rss&partner=rss