Lakers News: How Shaquille O'Neal Feels About First Kobe Bryant Statue

Shaq reacts.

Former Los Angeles Lakers superstar center Shaquille O'Neal has shared his reaction to the unveiling of his onetime teammate Kobe Bryant's statue, in a touching pregame TNT tribute.

"If I had one wish, I wish we would be talking to him right now."@SHAQ’s emotional response to Kobe's Statue Unveil pic.twitter.com/2l8PSR1CNK

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 9, 2024

After much anticipation, Bryant's first bronze statue (he'll have three) was unveiled in front of Crypto.com Arena on Thursday, 2/8/2024. The ceremony took place prior to the Los Angeles Lakers' home game against the Denver Nuggets.

The ceremony was a special moment for the Lakers organization and many of Bryant's former teammates, including O'Neal.

Earlier in the week prior to the ceremony, Shaq also talked about the statue on TNT.

 "Well obviously it's well deserved," O'Neal said. "I'm honored to have played with him ... This is a no brainer ... We knew he was going to get his jerseys retired you knew it was going to be a Kobe statue."

"I'm honored to have played with him... This is a no brainer... We knew he was going to get his jerseys retired you knew it was going to be a Kobe statue." 💯@SHAQ on the @Lakers unveiling Kobe's statue on 2/8/24 pic.twitter.com/4Vs3lOYPpp

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 7, 2024

O'Neal and Bryant were of course teammates for eight seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers. The pair arrived together in 1996, and helped the Lakers win three consecutive NBA Finals from 2000-2002.

When O'Neal's statue was unveiled back in 2017, Bryant was there for the ceremony. At the time, O'Neal told Bryant that he would be getting his own statue, which has now been unveiled. 

Bryant now joins O'Neal, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and Chick Hearn as Lakers legends to have received statues for their careers. 

As O'Neal said, Bryant's statue is well deserved, after a 20-year career which he spent entirely with the Lakers. In total, Bryant won five championships with the Lakers, won two NBA Finals MVPs, won NBA MVP in 2008, was named to the NBA All-Star team 18 times, and was part of the NBA's 75th Anniversary team.

Now, his legendary career with the Lakers is immortalized outside of Crypto.com arena.