During his time in the NBA, there weren’t many as competitive as Kobe Bryant. The Lakers legend would constantly scheme to get a leg up on his opponents, completely focused on winning and nothing more. With time, this mindset of his came to be known as the Mamba Mentality. Of his kids, his daughter Gigi was the only one who picked up basketball. So, the late great did everything he could to train her in all his ways. Wouldn’t you know it, the Mamba mentality was one of the things that was passed on. In fact, it was because of this that Gigi and her team absolutely humiliated their opponents in a ‘revenge game’. Now, 5 years after Kobe offered to train him too, Shaquille O’Neal‘s son, Shaqir recently reminded his Instagram followers of the daughter’s emphatic display.
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Back in 2018, Shaq’s ex-wife, Shaunie Henderson spoke about how close Kobe was with ‘the Big Diesel’s kids. As per TMZ Sports, here is what she said on the matter.
“Kobe always offers … we’re just so far from each other, but he always offers.”
Shaqir O’Neal is now 20 years old and aiming to make the NBA. He plays Shooting Guard, the same position as Bryant. Considering that he is already considered a good prospect by NBA scouts, perhaps the Lakers legend taught him a few tricks after all.
Shaqir O’Neal re-posts Kobe Bryant’s proud announcement about Gigi Bryant’s win
Both sons of Shaquille O’Neal, Shareef, and Shaqir were very fond of Kobe Bryant. To this day, both kids keep posting about him from time to time. The younger son’s recent throwback post about the Lakers legend and his daughter is yet another edition of the same phenomenon. Take a look at the tweet by tragicpatek below to see the post in question.
Shaqir posts a hilarious post about Kobe’s daughter’s team beating a team by 88 points pic.twitter.com/gouansUCj1
— tragicpatek (@tragicpatek) July 28, 2023
Gigi’s team won by a difference of 88 points. After having lost by just 1 point before, the team worked hard, before absolutely humiliating their opponents on the basketball court. Considering that Kobe Bryant would do the same thing in a similar situation, perhaps nobody should’ve been surprised that it played out the way it did. The apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree.
As for Shaq and Kobe, they infamously had a rampant feud that started during their time together, as part of the Los Angeles Lakers. The ‘beef’ persisted for a long time. However, as with all wounds, time helped heal their relationship, as Shaq cheered Kobe on as he went for 60 points in his final NBA game. The two would later have a very public sit down with each other, something you can see in the YouTube video by ‘NBA Stats All Seasons‘.
Kobe wanted Gigi to play in the NBA
Kobe Bryant was one of the greatest admirers of the game, no matter what gender the athletes may be. However, when it came to his own daughter, he looked at the examples of Lusia Harris, Ann Meyers, and Denise Long – the only women who almost played in the NBA. Ann got the closest of the three, signing on with the Indiana Pacers for a tryout. Unfortunately, Meyers couldn’t pass the tryout.
Bryant believed that his daughter, Gigi could go even further. In fact, he once publicly admitted that he wants Gigi to sign an NBA contract, and make it to the league, as you can read here. Unfortunately, as fate would have it, that day would never come to pass.
Rest in peace, Kobe and Gigi Bryant.
