Shaquille O'Neal's Son Gets Huge Leg Tattoo To Remember Kobe Bryant

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Shaq wasn't the only O'Neal who was close to the late Kobe Bryant -- his son Shareef, who plays basketball at UCLA, was also tight with the Lakers legend. On Tuesday, he showed off just how much Bryant meant to him by sharing photos of a massive new leg tattoo he got to remember No. 24.

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There are several different tattoos to honor Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, who also died in a January 26 helicopter accident.

The ink features the numbers 8 and 24, which Bryant wore during his career with the Lakers, along with an image of Kobe shooting and a jersey with Gianna's No. 2 on it. On the front of his calf is the Mamba logo with the phrase "Mamba Mentality."

Shortly after Bryant's death, Shareef shared a screen cap of a text exchange between he two. "You good fam?" Bryant asked.

"Yeah! Just been getting this work in trying to figure out my next move…How you been?" Shareef responded.

"This first picture were messages from THIS MORNING!!!" the 20-year-old captioned the messages. "I wish I didn’t sleep in so I could’ve talked to you .. I can’t even think straight right now.. I’m glad we got to bond over the years .. not only were you a great uncle you were a coach and a mentor to me too .. I love you man..thank you for everything you’ve done .. for this city , for the basketball world , and for me ... I won’t let you down .. you always counted on me and lifted me up. Love you unc."

"I’m crying while reading these messages over ... even when I was at my worst you checked in on me so often," he wrote. "I really appreciate you for that because I needed that so much.... i was so defeated sittin in that hospital everyday and I thought my basketball life was over .. you brought a smile to my face .. thank you. Love you."

Shaq shared his thoughts on hearing the horrible news during a special about Kobe on TNT last week.

“The last couple months have been really tough. I lost my little sister. Haven’t been doing the things I usually do. I work, we laugh, we kid, we joke. When I get back home I look at reality and say she’s gone and it hurts,” Shaq said, then retold how he found out about the news. “So the other day I’m down stairs working with my son Shaqir and my nephew Columbus and my other nephew comes in crying and he shows me his phone and I snapped at him. I said, ‘Man get that out of my face.

“We live in a world where where anything can be photoshopped. Anything can be hoaxed. I didn’t want to believe it,” he said. “And then I got the call from you, Charles, Kenny. Everybody called me. And then we found out it was confirmed. I haven’t felt a pain that sharp in a while.”