Shaq cries while remembering Kobe Bryant in NBA on TNT

Shaquille O'Neal could not hold back his tears as he remembered Kobe Bryant with the NBA on TNT crew at the empty Staples Center Arena.

The Hall of Famer, who won three championships with Bryant playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, said he could not believe the news of Kobe's death when it first reached him.

“I haven’t felt a pain that sharp in a while.. it definitely changes me.”’@SHAQ on the loss of his brother, Kobe. pic.twitter.com/dM5i0DDgGK

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) January 29, 2020

O'Neal said he felt a "triple stab to the heart" when the early details of the helicopter crash were reported. First when Bryant was said to be among those killed, second when Rick Fox was mistakenly rumored to be with him, and finally, when Kobe's daughter Gianna was confirmed to be one of the passengers.

"I haven't felt pain that sharp in a while. Forty-seven years old. Lost two grandmothers, lost the sarge, lost my sister. And now I lost a little brother," O'Neal said.

The Diesel said people, including him, tend to take things for granted when they are occupied with their work and "hold back certain things we should just do."

"The fact that we're not gonna able to joke at his Hall of Fame ceremony. We're not gonna be able to say, 'Ha, I got five, you got four.' The fact that we're not gonna be able to say, 'If we woulda stayed together we coulda got 10.' Those are the things you can't get back."

O'Neal remembered the last time he spoke with Bryant—when the latter played his final game in the NBA.

"Last time I talked to him was when we were here I asked him to get 50 and he got 60. It's the last time I spoke to him. And I just wish I coulda... you know."

"It definitely changes me," he said of Bryant's passing. "Imma try to do a better job of just reaching out and just talking to the people."

Bryant, 41, and Gianna, 13, were among the nine people killed when their helicopter crashed on the hills of Calabasas, California on Monday morning (Manila time).

They were on their way to a basketball game when tragedy stuck amid low visibility due to foggy weather.

Bryant is survived by his wife Vanessa and daughters Natalia, Bianka, and Capri, who is only seven months old. —MGP, GMA News