Ex-Laker Sean Rooks is fondly remembered by friends and former teammates

Three weeks ago, Shaquille O’Neal said he was driving down a street in New York and saw Sean Rooks taking a casual stroll.

O’Neal smiled and pulled over and the two big men and former teammates on the Lakers talked for about five minutes, laughing and joking.

So when O’Neal learned that Rooks had died Tuesday night at the age of 46, probably from heart disease, O’Neal thought back to that precious moment in New York.

“He looked good too,” O’Neal said in a phone interview Wednesday. “We just talked to each other for about five minutes and shared some stories. It’s crazy to think he died.”

Rooks traveled to New York on Tuesday to interview with new Knicks Coach Jeff Hornacek about becoming an assistant coach on his staff. Rooks spent the last two years as a player development coach with the 76ers. He collapsed Tuesday night at a restaurant after returning to Philadelphia.

Rooks, a 6-10 center, spent 12 years in the NBA.

He was O’Neal’s backup for three seasons with the Lakers, from 1996 to ’99. Rooks also played three seasons with the Clippers, 2000-2003.

“He was a well-respected guy,” O’Neal said. “Once you’ve played in this league, you become a band of brothers. He was a good guy. I send my condolences to his family. It’s sad to hear.

Robert Horry, another former Lakers teammate, remembered when he met Rooks in college.

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Horry was playing for the University of Alabama and Rooks was playing for the University of Arizona when the schools met in the 1990 NCAA Tournament.

Horry still fondly recalls that the Crimson Tide upset the Wildcats, 77-55, and that the two later became friends on the Lakers.

“We waxed them by 22 points. After that, we both made it to the Goodwill Games and [Rooks] said, ‘Man, we thought we were going to beat y’all, a bunch of country bumpkins.’ ”

“We just talked about it and laughed about it,” Horry recalled Wednesday. “We just became friends after that.... Sean was just a great person, a nice guy. I feel so sorry for his kids and his mom. She loved her boy.”

Horry, O’Neal and Tracy Murray all were in the 1992 NBA draft class.

Murray, the Lakers’ shooting coach, met Rooks during high school.

Murray’s family had moved in the summer of 1985 to Glendora. During a summer league game in Fontana, Murray saw Rooks and wondered “who is that big dude over there?”

It was Rooks, who was a star at Fontana High. The two struck up a friendship that lasted.

“He was a guy with a big heart,” Murray said. “He was pleasant to be around, a true friend. He was somebody you could depend on and always had a shoulder to lean on.”

Rooks had a son, Kameron, who plays basketball at California, and a daughter, Khayla.

Murray said he was able to reach Khayla on Instagram.

“I did tell her how special her dad is,” Murray said. “She’s young and he’s all over the place grinding, trying to get a coaching job here, trying to get a coaching job there. It’s a tough business.... So I was letting her know that everything he did, he busted his tail for both of them. They needed to know that. They needed to know how much he loved them and how much he wanted to make the best life for them.”

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broderick.turner@latimes.com

Twitter:@BA_Turner