Kobe Bryant News: Former Teammate Shaquille O'Neal Admits He Is Jealous Of 'The Black Mamba's' Retirement Tour
Former NBA superstar Shaquille O'Neal admitted that he was feeling some jealousy towards retiring Los Angeles Lakers franchise player Kobe Bryant.
The two men played alongside each other when O'Neal was signed with the Lakers from 1996-2004. The duo had bagged three NBA championships together, in 2000, 2001, and 2002. In June 2011, O'Neal announced his retirement from professional basketball, where he simply thanked his supporters and the coaches and players he had worked with.
He last suited up for the Boston Celtics, where he played from 2010-2011. He also won his last championship in 2006, with the Miami Heat.
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Currently, O'Neal has kept himself relevant within the realm of basketball through various media appearances and a podcast. And in the recent episode of his show entitled "The Big Podcast" (via a FOX Sports report) he admitted that he is jealous of how Bryant is having his retirement tour.
He first revealed that having missed the chance to do his own tour is "killing him", noting how the "Shaq Tour" has been planned since his days wearing the Celtics jersey.
"I'm super jealous. I wanted a Shaq tour," O'Neal said. "I wanted to just go to the city, and people see me play my last game. I did. I'm like at first I tried to suck it up, but I can't. It's killing me."
In another report by Nola.com, O'Neal says he even tried to convince the 37-year old Bryant to continue on with his career after his season.
''If you still got something, you should go because once it's done you can't get it back,' he said.
O'Neal added that he would have played on if he did not get hurt, and that he would have tried to break the late great Wilt Chamberlain's scoring record.
Bryant announced his retirement in November, and since then has received different forms of ovation from teams that he has played against as the season progressed.
