Bryant, O’Neal Are Dads Again

Settling into separate lives on opposite coasts, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal still can’t seem to get that far from each other.

Bryant’s wife, Vanessa, gave birth to the couple’s second daughter six minutes before O’Neal’s wife, Shaunie, gave birth to a girl early Monday.

Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant was born at 2:03 a.m. at an undisclosed hospital in Orange County. Mearah Sanaa O’Neal, the couple’s sixth child, was then born in a South Florida hospital.

“The arrival of our new daughter Gianna early this morning is such an incredible blessing for me and my family,” Bryant said in a statement released through his agent. “We are all full of beautiful emotions after such an incredible day.”

Bryant did not attend Laker practice Monday and was expected to join the team in Phoenix later that night or this morning. The Lakers lead the favored Suns, 3-1, in their series. Bryant will play tonight in Game 5.

O’Neal did not talk to reporters after Monday’s practice in Miami, where the favored Heat is in a 2-2 tie with Chicago in a first-round playoff series.

O’Neal and Bryant, teammates-turned-rivals who won three championships together with the Lakers, finally made peace this year, shaking hands and hugging before a January game at Staples Center.