After publicly expressing his grief and regrets of a formerly strained relationship with Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal announced how he planned to pay tribute to his friend while assisting families affected by Sunday’s deadly helicopter crash.
The NBA champion, who played alongside Bryant during some of the Los Angeles Lakers’ most successful years, expressed his sadness about the death of the 41-year-old, who was killed along with his daughter, Gianna, and seven others in a California helicopter crash last weekend. He shared his thoughts during a sportscast Tuesday on TNT.
“And the fact that we lost probably the world's greatest Laker, the world’s greatest basketball player, just ... listen, people are going to say, ‘Take your time and get better,’ but it's going to be hard for me,” O'Neal said. “My spirit just left my body; I just wish I could be able to say one thing ... one last thing to the people we lost. Because once you’re gone, you’re gone forever.”
Since then, the 47-year-old, who spends part of his time living in Georgia, said he has been grappling with how to move forward. He had planned to host his annual family-friendly Super Bowl Fun House event in Miami this weekend. On Twitter, the former Los Angeles Lakers star said he had been wavering on whether to cancel the party.
Instead of canceling, O’Neal has decided to donate all proceeds from the popular event to the victims who passed away in the crash. The victims, outside the Bryants, include John Altobelli, 56, baseball coach at Orange Coast College and his wife Keri Altobelli; Alyssa Altobelli, the Altobellis’ daughter and one of Gianna's basketball teammates; Christina Mauser, basketball coach at Harbor Day School, Gigi Bryant’s school; Payton Chester, a middle school student; Sarah Chester, Payton Chester’s mother; and Ara Zobayan, pilot.
“I'll be dedicating and donating all my proceeds from Friday nights Fun House to all the families who lost loved ones and to the Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Foundation,” O’Neal wrote. “Together we will celebrate all those who lost their lives in Sundays tragedy. RIP my brother, my friend and my homie, The Black Mamba. Until we meet again.”
The party is Friday night.
In addition to Shaq's kind act, StubHub also announced that it would donate all of the ticket sales fees for the upcoming Lakers-Trail Blazers game Friday to the Bryants' foundation, which is devoted to "improving the lives of youth and families in need, both domestically and globally."
See Shaquille O’Neal’s full speech about Bryant here:
More on Kobe Bryant’s passing:
Victims ID’d in Kobe Bryant crash | Foggy weather may have been a factor
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