LSU's Shareef O'Neal remembers Gigi, Kobe Bryant on 2-year anniversary of their deaths

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As the son of NBA star Shaquille O'Neal, LSU men's basketball forward Shareef O'Neal grew up around Kobe Bryant.

Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant played together on the Los Angeles Lakers from 1996-2004, and they won three NBA titles together.

Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna "Gigi" Bryant died on Jan. 26, 2020.

To mark the two-year anniversary of their deaths, Shareef O'Neal acknowledged that Wednesday is a difficult day for him, and he tweeted a tribute to the pair.

Shareef O'Neal tweeted, "1/26 the last day you reached out to me ..this is always going to be a hard day for me.. RIP love you kobe and gigi." He included two heart emojis after "RIP," and he ended the tweet with the hashtag #imgoodfam.

The tweet included a photo of a mural of Kobe and Gigi. It also included a photo of a young Shareef O'Neal with Kobe and Shaq at the 2009 NBA All-Star Game, where Kobe and Shaq shared the All-Star Game MVP award.

Shareef O'Neal also retweeted Wednesday a photo of himself as an infant with Kobe Bryant in the background. The tweet from December says, "Unseen photo miss you Unc."

Here's more Kobe Bryant news:

Jul 27, 2019; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Kobe Bryant is pictured with his daughter Gianna at the WNBA All Star Game at Mandalay Bay Events Center.
Jul 27, 2019; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Kobe Bryant is pictured with his daughter Gianna at the WNBA All Star Game at Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Kobe Bryant was an 18-time NBA All-Star during his career. He won five NBA titles and was a two-time NBA Finals MVP. In 2021, Bryant was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Erik Hall is the lead digital producer for sports with the USA Today Network. You can find him on Twitter @HallErik.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Shareef O'Neal reflects on Gigi, Kobe Bryant on anniversary of deaths