NBA legends Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant shared a very close bond. Even though they locked horns during their time together for the Los Angeles Lakers, the two squashed the beef after Bryant’s retirement. Despite their early clash of egos, O’Neal almost always puts Kobe ahead of him when it comes to All-Time lists. The former center is very vocal about his friend’s legacy. Now, Shaq has once again shown his love for the late legend with a request to fans in an attempt to save Bryant and his daughter’s legacies.

When Kobe and his daughter, Gigi, passed away, O’Neal was heartbroken. The 4x NBA champion broke down on TV while talking about the tragic death.

Shaquille O’Neal endorses the petition

Fans around the world will forever remember Kobe Bryant and Gigi as long as there is a basketball bouncing. Especially in Los Angeles, where Bryant is idolized in every street. So their shocking death was a huge blow for the City of Angels. People flooded the Lakers arena to mourn their passing. Furthermore, many fans expressed their love for Kobe with murals in the city.

One such iconic mural was painted on the walls of a gym in LA which featured the 5x NBA champion wearing his #24 Lakers jersey and Gigi wearing her #2 jersey. Fans loved the beautiful mural, and it became very popular. However, the owner of the gym recently took to social media and revealed that the landlord had asked him to remove the mural by September 30.

After the shocking news, Vanessa Bryant took to Instagram and asked the fans to sign the petition to save the mural of her husband and daughter. Many celebrities also shared the petition on their social media handles including Shaqir O’Neal. A couple of days later, Shaquille O’Neal has now joined him as well.

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The 2000 NBA MVP shared a video clip about the possible removal of the mural on his Instagram story. The clip also encouraged the fans to sign the petition. With Shaq’s massive fan following, fans will be hoping the petition gets enough support.

Shaqir O’Neal with Kobe Bryant

The friendship of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant extended to their families as well. Both stars were well acquainted with each other’s families. So Kobe and Gigi’s passing was hard on Shaq’s children as well. Shaqir O’Neal recently re-shared a few pictures of him with Bryant which he initially posted in 2018. The 20-year-old captioned the post, “Mamba mentality”. The pictures looked like it was taken during a basketball tournament. Besides being coached by his father, looks like Shaqir also had a mentor in Kobe.

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