Being a son of an NBA all-time great is both a curse and a blessing. Although it has its perks, it also brings a lot of pressure, especially if the son tries to follow in his famous dad's footsteps.
Shareef O'Neal and his mom knew that. So up until he was a teenager, they made no mention of who his dad was. This was because he wanted to have a normal school life and he didn't want people to put a lot of pressure on his basketball career.
“The thing about me that not a lot of people know is nobody knew who my dad was at none of my schools until I was about 15 or 16 years old,” revealed Shareef. “All the parent-teacher conferences, it was just my mom who came. It was a set plan. We just kind of hid it so people didn’t treat us differently.”
Nobody knew him until the basketball season
Shareef is the oldest of the three children of Shaq and ex-wife Shaunie Henderson. He was born in Los Angeles and played high school ball close to home. Reef first played for Windward School and although he was hard not to notice as a 6-foot-8 freshman, nobody knew whose blood was running through his veins.
“But when the basketball season started coming around, people started filming the games," he added. "There was a small game, 8 a.m., my dad came, and someone happened to film him. They posted it on YouTube, and that was it after that, everyone knew."
After two seasons at Windward, Shaq's son decided to take his talents to Crossroads School in Santa Monica, where his numbers improved. However, because he was already exposed as the Hall of Famer's son, the pressure was on. Shareef played for UCLA and LSU in college but was undrafted in the 2022 NBA Draft. He last played for the G League Ignite team during the 2022-23 season.
Related: John Stockton says neither Michael Jordan, LeBron James, nor Kobe Bryant are the GOAT: "Well, I wouldn't use those three"
Shaq wants the Bronny James scrutiny to stop
Just recently, Shareef's dad called out the critics of LeBron James' son Bronny and urged them to stop the scrutiny of LeBron's eldest son . LeBron Jr. earned criticism after the Los Angeles Lakers selected him with the second-to-the-last pick of the 2024 NBA Draft.
"I would like to get the scrutiny off Bronny James," said the Diesel on his podcast. "Yeah, my nephew. He's a kid, a great kid; all he wants to do is play. It's unfortunate for kids like ours; they have to live up to what we have done."
Just like Bronny, Shareef underwent surgery for a heart issue. Although he made it back to play again, he wasn't able to make it to the next level. Bronny did, but it remains to be seen if he will make it to the Lakers' final roster. Regardless, it's unfair to treat sons of NBA greats as if they are as good as their dads.
Related: "I want the separation between the two, and I believe he want that separation" - Kendrick Perkins urges Bronny to step out of his father's shadow and make a name for himself
Most Popular
Comments / 0