Years Before Becoming Lakers, Shaq Met Kobe Bryant in Magic Locker Room

ORLANDO - Many fans on social media are celebrating August 24 as "Kobe Bryant Day."

The late Los Angeles Lakers legend who passed in 2020 has the unofficial holiday after the two numbers he wore while playing: 8 and 24. It also comes one day after his birthday, August 23.

To commemorate the occasion, Basketball News brought a Kobe story back to the surface from last year that has a tie-in with the Orlando Magic.

“True story, and Kobe never told me this until after we played: A little kid comes into the locker room in Orlando and he wants to see Penny Hardaway. It’s Kobe!” Shaq said on The Rex Chapman Show last year.

“I never knew this until Kobe told me this story. He wants to see Penny, and Penny’s not a bad guy, but I don’t know what was going on that day and he was just [like], ‘Whatever.’ And Kobe was standing there. I actually remember this day, the kid was sitting there and I grabbed him like, ‘Come on, little fella; I’ll take a picture with you!’ I never knew that kid was Kobe until he told me. We played together, had our fights and battles together, and then when we did that Lakers sit-down interview, Kobe said, ‘Hey man, you remember when I came in the locker room and wanted to see Penny and he blew me off?’ I was like, ‘That was you?!’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, that was me.’

Shaq played for the Magic from 1992-96 and joined Lakers in free agency the same summer the team drafted Kobe. The pair would be Lakers teammates for eight seasons, advancing to four finals and winning three NBA championships from 2000-02.