A somber Shaquille O’Neal pays tribute to Kobe at his Super Bowl party in Miami
A somber Shaquille O’Neal was determined to play host Friday night at his Shaq’s Funhouse at Mana Wynwood.
On the red carpet, the former basketball star talked emotionally about how he almost canceled the event when he heard about the death of Kobe Bryant.
The two, who were rivals for a time on and off the court but later mended fences, played together on the Los Angeles Lakers from 1996 to 2004 and won three consecutive NBA Championships. The Lakers paid tribute to Bryant at Staples Center as Shaq was doing last minute preparations for his party.
“I just knew Kobe would want us to push on,” said the onetime Miami Heat star with tears in his eyes. “He would want us to do this.”
One hundred percent of proceeds from the carnival like event — which featured trapeze artists, a light show, dancing mimes and rides — went to the victims of the crash that killed Bryant and his teenage daughter as well as seven others last weekend.
Shaq later took to the turntables in the wee hours of Saturday as his alternate ego, DJ Diesel. He raised his arms to the sky, two fingers on one hand, four on the other (the Insta pic was in reverse).
Bryant’s jersey number was 24.
“We did it for Kobe tonight,” read the caption.
This story was originally published February 1, 2020 at 11:26 AM.
