“Best No. 24 in All of Sports!”: Shaquille O’Neal Gets ‘Emotional’ While Discussing Kobe Bryant As NBA 2K24 Cover Athlete

Kobe Bryant just made history posthumously after surpassing Michael Jordan as the NBA athlete with the most 2K covers. Earlier this month, the NBA announced that Kobe would be featured as the cover athlete for NBA 2k24. The Lakers legend will grace two editions of the popular basketball game, the ‘Kobe Bryant Edition’ and the ‘Black Mamba Edition’. With the latest announcement, Kobe now has been selected for the NBA 2K cover a total of six times, more than anybody in league history. His former teammate Shaquille O’Neal was recently asked about his thoughts on the Mamba’s latest achievement, which prompted a heartfelt reaction from the Big Man.

Shaq and Kobe were tied with four NBA 2K covers each till the NBA’s recent announcement. Only two players had more covers than the Lakers’ lethal three-peat duo, Allen Iverson and Michael Jordan with five covers each.

Shaquille O’Neal reacts to Kobe Bryant’s new NBA 2K24 feature

Shaq recently appeared on the Gaming Tour of America for an interview with Full Squad Gaming Atlanta. The Big Fella had a candid conversation with the co-hosts, covering a range of topics from the NBA to popular streamer xQc’s $100 million Kick contract. During the conversation, Shaq was also asked about Kobe Bryant’s recent 2K feature.

The Big Diesel had a heartfelt response to the question. “Man, I wish he was here to celebrate with us. Only makes sense-He’s probably the best No. 24 in all of sports. But it’d be better if he was here to celebrate with us,” Shaq said, in a heavy voice.

The Mamba’s untimely passing has surely affected the four-time NBA Champion deeply. The Lakers legend has addressed his difficult journey of coming to terms with the tragic news and dealing with the grief, on multiple podcast appearances and interviews over the years.

Kobe once trolled Shaq during the latter’s 2K feature

NBA 2k released a hilarious video in 2017 to promote their NBA 2K18 edition, which featured Shaq as the cover athlete. The three-time Finals MVP starred in the ‘NBA 2K18 Legend Edition’ and the ‘NBA 2K Legend Edition Gold’ in 2017.

The video featured a funny skit, where Shaq was seen reading an acceptance speech for his feature announcement. However, the 7’1 giant would soon discover that there’s something wrong with the text written in the teleprompter. He would appear very confused while reading out, “…but most of all, I’d like to thank Kobe Bryant. He was an NBA 2K Legend cover athlete first. He’s so awesome and handsome and has really nice natural teeth…wait, what!”

The camera would then pan to Kobe Bryant typing on his phone and smiling ear to ear with his “really nice natural teeth”. The commercial really is a core memory in the heart of NBA fans.