NBA: Shaquille O'Neal Breaks Down, Wished Relationship With Kobe Bryant Had Been Better

The world continues to render dedications and tributes to the late Kobe Bryant who perished in a helicopter crash recently. Around the world and in other sports, most remain saddened with the untimely loss. Making it harder to accept is the fact that Kobe was with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna at the time.

Both rivals and close friends are devastated by the tragic news, something that has left the sporting world in mourning. The latest one to share his thoughts is Bryant's former teammate, Shaquille O'Neal. For Los Angeles Lakers fans, most know the rivalry both had during their day. Regardless, their duo produced three NBA titles for the Los Angeles Lakers.

A visibly affected O'Neal broke down in tears as they were discussing Bryant on NBA on TNT. He recalled the things he and Kobe had been through. Despite what the feud looked like in public, The Diesel explained it was all love between them behind-the-scenes.

"All the stuff that is documented between us .. this is what brothers do," transcribed in a report by TMZ Sports.

In the same show, O'Neal shared that the timing of Bryant's death came at a bad time. He had just lost his sister Ayesha and has not gotten decent sleep. It explains why he said that he had not felt pain this sharp in a while.

From there, O'Neal regret not being a better friend to Kobe Bryant. He knows that both will still cross paths moving forward, bragging and joking about their NBA accomplishments. But the thing here is that the 47-year-old will not be able to share those moments with his former teammate. Apparently, that thought is further tearing him apart deep inside.

"The fact that we're not gonna be able to joke at his Hall of Fame ceremony, we're not gonna be able to say, 'Haha, I got 5 (championships), you got 4,' the fact that we're not gonna be able to say, 'If we would've stayed together, we could've got 10' ... those were the things you can't get back."

The latest on the tragic helicopter crash is that all nine bodies have been recovered. The body of Bryant and three other people killed have been identified, SI.com reported. Fingerprints were used to confirm the identity of Bryant. The others were John Altobelli, Sarah Chester, and Ara Zobayan. The other five victims have yet to be identified, including Bryant's daughter Gianna.