It is common to see the sons of basketball stars follow in their father’s footsteps, which is what we are witnessing in the O’Neal household. Hall of Famer and NBA analyst Shaquille O’Neal has two sons playing college basketball, and they play one-on-one occasionally.
Shareef, a 6’10” power forward at LSU spoke with USA TODAY Sports and recounted his experience playing against his father.
“He plays super dirty. He fouls a lot.”
“If we score on him, he’ll say it’s a travel. He’ll say anything. I won, but he wants to say he won because he was playing dirty.”
“All he does is just kind of stunt on us. He’ll tell us, ‘No, I’ve been doing this for 20 years.’ He’s like, ‘I taught you everything you know.’ He’ll say how many (NBA championship) rings he has.”
“He’ll shut the conversation down real quick. He’ll play with us sometimes, but just quick, two possessions and he’ll just stop.’’
It has been a rough run for Shareef, who had to undergo heart surgery in his first year at UCLA. Lack of playing time resulted in Shareef transferring to LSU, his father’s alma mater.
Big Shaq had a glorious NBA career, making 15 All-Star appearances, winning four NBA championships, and winning the NBA Finals MVP three times. With all the accolades and experience, perhaps he was teaching the young man how to play through contact. He had similar advice for New York Knicks Julius Randle who did not get a lot of calls in the ‘Battle of New York’.
Shaq is arguably the most dominant player in league history. In sports analyst Stephen A. Smith’s mind, there is no doubt whatsoever as he strongly believes Shaq is the most dominant force in NBA history.
Shareef has been in the news recently because of his strides in the business world. He is progressive and moving with the times, as he just signed a long-term deal with NFT Genius to launch a new line of NFTs.
