The 2020 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame will undoubtedly be a historic event, but Bryant's former superstar teammate, Shaquille O'Neal, can't bring himself to watch the ceremonies.
During an episode of Shaq's The Big Podcast with Shaq, the Hall of Famer explains that he's still dealing with Bryant's death. He says he's been able to soothe himself to the point that his emotions are bearable. However, he feels like watching Kobe's enshrinement will resurface those feelings and start his grieving process anew.
"I'm actually not going to watch the Hall of Fame ceremony. On the scale of sadness from 1 to 10, I'm finally at least at a 2 now," Shaq said. "That would bring it back to a 7, 8, 9 and I can't right now. So I don't want to see old highlights that I'm already watching now."
Although he won't be watching the broadcast, Shaq does have some idea for the Hall of Fame on how they should pay tribute to Kobe.
"It would be great if his wife gave a speech or his mom or dad give a speech but I'll see that afterwards," he continued, before adding that there should be a hologram of Bean at the ceremony. "You know what would be nice? If they had a hologram," Shaq said. "A hologram of him sitting next everybody else."
Despite the coronavirus, the Hall of Fame ceremony is still scheduled to take place on August 29. Bryant will headline the inductions, along with Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett.