Years later, however, O’Neal and Bryant often credited each other for being friendly with each other’s kids. Shortly before Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven others died on a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, Bryant had traded messages with O’Neal’s son, Shareef. “You never know what stuff is going to happen. So you shouldn’t let stuff linger,” O’Neal said. “Were we best friends? No. Did we respect the hell out of each other? 1,000%. Do I wish we could’ve talked every day and hung out every day. Yes.”