Shaquille O'Neal took to Twitter to express his pain following the death of his former teammate Kobe Bryant and Bryant's thirteen-year-old daughter, Gianna Maria.
"There’s no words to express the pain Im going through with this tragedy of loosing my neice Gigi & my brother @kobebryant I love u and u will be missed," O'Neal wrote Sunday afternoon.
"My condolences goes out to the Bryant family and the families of the other passengers on board. IM SICK RIGHT NOW"
Bryant and "Gigi" were among the nine victims of a helicopter crash Sunday afternoon in southern California.
According to the Associated Press, the crash occurred in Calabasas, about 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Los Angeles County fire officials said there were no survivors when the helicopter crashed.
O'Neal, who attended Cole High School in San Antonio and led the Cougars to a 68-1 record during his two years with the team, was Bryant's teammate for 8 years and 3 NBA championships. O'Neal's tenure with the Lakers ended in a feud between him and Bryant, but the two made up years later and remained amicable into their retirements.
According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Bryant was on his way to a travel basketball game with his daughter, another player and parent at the time of the crash.
Kobe Bryant was 41.