Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. NBA history has been full of deadly and dominant duos that made the league and the game popular on every corner on Earth.
Notably, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant starred in the early 2000s, dominating the league nearly at will and leading the Los Angeles Lakers to three straight championships. However, their relationship fell off and cut their duo short way too early.
For years, people have speculated how many more rings they could've won together. Nonetheless, now that Kobe has left us, Shaq has one regret and one regret only, and that's not reaching out to him more often.
NBA News: Shaq Admits He Regrets Not Calling Kobe More Often
(via PEOPLE)
"You put off [getting in touch]," O'Neal, 50, tells PEOPLE in this week's issue, on newsstands this Friday. "I'll never get to see Kobe again, in real life, forever. And I just should have called. He should have called. We both should have called. But he's working, I'm working, so it's 'I'll see you when I see you.' "
O'Neal says he and Bryant always maintained a deep love and respect for each other, but he acknowledges to PEOPLE that time has yet to give him more perspective on his teammate's passing. "[I thought], 'We're both going to get old. We'll both be at the 50-year Lakers anniversary.' Other things shouldn't have been more important [than getting in touch], but little things [got in the way]."
His simple advice for others feeling disconnected from friends and loved ones: "Call your mom. Call your brother. Call the homeboy you used to party with in college. Forever is a long time."
Shaq and Kobe's feud was well documented, but so was their reconciliation. Sadly, that dispute kept us from watching them make more history together, but at least it is nice to know that they were able to bury the hatchet before it was too late.
