Shaquille O’Neal’s son, Shareef, was one of the last people to hear from Kobe Bryant prior to the tragic helicopter accident that claimed the Laker legend’s life, as well as that of his 13-year old daughter Gianna, and seven others.
Shortly after the heartbreaking news surfaced on Sunday afternoon, Shareef posted a screenshot of the final message Kobe had sent him earlier that day. As seen in the IG post embedded below, Bryant had simply reached out to check in on Shareef, as the 20-year old forward recently announced that he had decided to transfer from UCLA.
Hours after receiving Kobe’s “You good fam?” message, Shareef replied, “Yeah! Just getting this work in trying to figure out my next move.” He added, “How you been?” During the time between Kobe’s initial message at 8:19 am and Shareef’s response at 10:58 am, the 41-year old icon had been killed in the crash in Calabasas, California.
“You’ve really been there for me all 20 years of my life … been there for me since I was born .. love you”
“Can we shut down LA for a day and just have a Kobe parade … someone set it up”
Of course, Shareef’s father Shaq was also among those who paid tribute to Kobe on Sunday.
“There are no words to express the pain I’m going through now with this tragic and sad moment of losing my niece Gigi & my friend, my brother, my partner in winning championships, my dude and my homie. I love you and you will be missed. My condolences goes out to the Bryant family and the families of the other passengers on board. IM SICK RIGHT NOW!”
