Shaquille O'Neal's sister, Ayesha Harrison-Jex, died of cancer Thursday. She was 40 years old.
Shaq, the NBA Hall-of-Famer turned businessman and product endorsement guru, is also a family man, especially when it comes to his brother and sisters.
Harrison-Jex was diagnosed with cancer three years ago. O'Neal didn't know his biological father growing up and was raised by his stepfather, Philip A. Harrison, who was Ayesha’s father. O'Neal was not on TNT's Inside the NBA on Thursday night and his colleagues passed along their condolences.
Co-host Ernie Johnson gave some heartfelt condolences as he spoke of Shaq, "When he struggles, we struggle with him because he's one of our brothers and we feel for him tonight. He said his world revolves around his brother and two sisters, and he lost one of his sisters this morning, far too early."
Charles Barkley sent kind words to O'Neal's mother, Lucille O'Neal, explaining she was there for his family when his mother died.
Johnson added that O’Neal, 47, is currently in Orlando, Florida, to be with his family. The basketball star responded to Thursday’s Inside the NBA episode on Twitter, writing, “Thanks for the condolences and the love. If I had older brothers, it would be you 3. Love y’all and love you more Candice.”
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Johnson explained that Harrison-Jex had died “far too early” at the age of 40. She had been diagnosed with cancer three years ago. Harrison-Jex graduated with a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from Florida A&M University, and was also a mother to her son Bryce, according to Johnson. She will be laid to rest in a military cemetery and will be buried next to O’Neal’s stepfather, Sgt. Phillip Harrison.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver also appeared on the show on Thursday to send love to O’Neal’s family.
“We always talk about the NBA as a family and it’s times like this where we’re together and we’ve all known Shaq’s mom Lucille since he came into the league and I met his sister many times,” Silver said. “So from everyone at the league, but me personally, my condolences to Shaq (and) to his family.”
“Big Fella, you hang in there,” Johnson added.
