Former Los Angeles Lakers superstar Shaquille O'Neal gave a piece of advice to his ex-teammate, saying that Kobe Bryant should continue playing if he still has a lot of gas left in his tank.

Bryant, who will be playing in his 20th season in the league this year, hinted earlier this year that the 2015-16 NBA season could be the final year of his playing career.

Bryant, who is set to earn $25 million in the final year of his two-year contract with the Lakers, also said that nothing is final until next summer, which means he could still decide to play on.

For Shaq, Bryant should delay his retirement if he is still aching to play because he will not get the same chance again in the future. The once-dominant center pointed out that the he could still be playing and trying to break Wilt Chamberlain's record if not for the injuries he sustained during the final year of his career.

"If you still got something, you should go because once it's done you can't get it back," O'Neal told The Times-Picayune. "If I hadn't got hurt I would have went on and played my last season to try and break Wilt Chamberlain's scoring record. But it's different for a guard because they got control."

Bryant, who is third in the NBA all-time scoring list behind Chamberlain and Utah Jazz legend Karl Malone, has been slowed down by numerous injuries over the past three seasons.

The 37-year-old superstar suffered a torn left Achilles tendon before the 2012 NBA Playoffs. And just in his sixth game back from the injury the following season, the 17-time All-Star hurt his knee, which also forced him to sit out the rest of the 2013-14 NBA season.

Bryant showed flashes of brilliance last season as he averaged 22.3 points on top of 5.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists in his first 35 games. However, he sustained a season-ending shoulder surgery.

Heading into training camp, recent reports revealed that Bryant is ready to participate in all drills. However, Lakers head coach Byron Scott said in an interview with Orange County Register that Bryant's minute will be capped and might not play in back-to-back games in the upcoming season.

"I think the biggest decision is playing time, trying to make that as limited as possible and also back-to-back games," Scott said when asked about Bryant. "That's something we have to talk about. Other than that, there really is no other decision to make. He wants to play, and he wants to go out the way he wants to go out."