NBA legend, Shaquille O’Neal’s sister Ayesha Harrison-Jex has died after her three years battle with cancer. She was 40.
Shaq’s TNT co-host Ernie Johnson announced the heartbreaking news after the former Los Angeles Laker, 47, did not appear in his regular slot on TNT’s Inside the NBA on Thursday, October 24.
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‘He said his world revolves around his brother and two sisters and he lost one of his sisters this morning far too early at the age of 40, from cancer,’ Johnson said on the broadcast.
According to Johnson, Harrison-Jex was mother to a son named Bryce and graduated from Florida A&M with both bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
‘Trying to put into words the way Shaquille has reacted to this and he’s struggling … hearts are breaking in Shaq’s family and in our family as well,’ Johnson said. ‘When he struggles, we struggle with him because he’s one of our brothers … basically the big fella, who I’ve described as the biggest kid in the world, his heart is breaking.’
He wrapped up in addressing O’Neal in saying, ‘Big fella, you hang in there.’
