Shaquille O'Neal To Saints: 'Don't Let The Media Divide You' As They Did With Him And Kobe Bryant

Shaquille O'Neal spoke to the New Orleans Saints on Thursday, reportedly urging them to stay unified after Drew Brees apologized for saying he'd never support players protesting during the national anthem.

This was the gist of O'Neal's words, as relayed to NBC Sports' Peter King: "They're going to try to divide you, just like they divided us with the Lakers! Me and Kobe [Bryant], we had a great thing going, but the media divided our team. We could have won five more championships! Stay strong. Don't let the media divide you! Don't let social media divide you!"

O'Neal was scheduled to speak to the Saints on Thursday before Brees told Yahoo Finance on Wednesday that he'd "never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country."

Brees apologized for his comments over social media and again during the 100-minute call with his teammates on Thursday.

In an appearance on TNT on Thursday, O'Neal explained why he was part of that phone call and what transpired.

“About two weeks ago, I was contacted to speak to the Saints players today,” O'Neal said. “Then, this happened. I’m not going to get into because coach [Sean] Payton doesn’t really want us to get into it, but I was on the call today when Drew apologized to his teammates, and most of his teammates accepted his apology.

“They said, ‘Drew, we know your character. We know you stepped into some stuff that you can’t get out of, but guess what? We want you to do more, more positive things and less talking.’ And they all said, ‘We accept your apology.’"

.@SHAQ joined the @Saints team meeting today and described Drew Brees' apology to his teammates. pic.twitter.com/U9nKtOiydd
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) June 5, 2020

O'Neal played alongside Bryant for eight seasons, but their relationship was fraught with drama despite their success. Bryant criticized O'Neal's work ethic, calling him lazy and out of shape. O'Neal thought Bryant was arrogant and selfish.

They won three-straight championships together from 2000-2002, but their relationship became untenable and the Lakers traded O'Neal to Miami in 2004, breaking up one of the best one-two punches in league history.

After Bryant died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, O'Neal said despite their bickering, they shared a deep bond. He choked back tears on a one-hour live special honoring Bryant on TNT, calling Bryant his little brother and saying he hadn't been able to sleep since his death.

"I haven't felt a pain that sharp in a while," O'Neal said.

O'Neal added that him and Bryant had a deep well of respect for one another.

"If you don't believe the respect was there, after I won my first championship, who was the first guy to jump into my arms?" O'Neal said. "When [Bryant] twisted his ankle in The Finals and couldn't walk, who was the guy who carried him down the hall? So from now on, I don't want to hear about the beef you all thought we had."

O'Neal also spoke at Bryant's public memorial at Staples Center on Feb. 24, saying that him and Bryant brought out the best in each other -- and could've even accomplished more had pettiness not gotten in their way.

"Not unlike another leadership duo, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, whose creative rivalry led to some of the greatest music of all time, Kobe and I pushed one another to play some of the greatest basketball of all time," O'Neal said. "And I am proud that no other team has accomplished what the three-peat Lakers have done since the Shaq and Kobe Lakers did it."