Shareef O’Neal knew his NBA dreams were far-fetched when he declared for the NBA Draft in 2022. After undergoing an open-heart surgery in 2018, Shareef’s recovery took time. His return to the basketball court was much celebrated, but his impact was never the same.
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Averaging 2.6 points and 3.0 rebounds in three seasons, it was highly unlikely that any NBA team would draft O’Neal, and he knew it. “I know I’m not gonna get drafted. I already knew this before I declared,” O’Neal shared during his At The Buzzer podcast appearance.
Shareef’s plan was to get into the G League camp, have a good workout, and get into some summer league team. He did just that, with a strong double-double showing at the camp, earning himself a spot on the Lakers’ Summer League roster. After Summer League, he was picked up by G League Ignite, averaging 5.6 points and 3.2 rebounds for them.
However, after his 2022-23 stint with them, O’Neal was out of a contract. At that time, he was contacted by people from the NBL(National Basketball League) in Australia. Shareef was seriously considering it, when he had a conversation with his dad, Shaquille O’Neal. “You really want to go to Australia?” Shaq asked his son.
“I want to leave America. These past few years of my life, I don’t know, like I might as well live my life now. I already just went through whatever I went through and I was like, you know, sh*t’s not working out over here,” Shareef replied.
Shareef shared how his dad then put a full stop to that thought. He discussed how Shaq and his mom, Shaunie Henderson, discussed it and were against the same.
“He’s like me and your mom talked about it. We’re not gonna let you go to Australia. That’s too far like damn, speaking to everything that happened, like the closest person to you is a 16-18 hour flight. He’s like we’re not going for that.”
Even though Shaq and Shaunie have had their differences, they always present a united front when it comes to their kids. They collectively decided against sending their son halfway across the world to pursue his basketball dream. However, Shaq did not leave Shareef hanging.
Shaquille O’Neal offered Shareef a job at Reebok to keep him in USA
At the time Shareef was considering a move to down under, Shaq was making money moves. In the summer of 2023, Shaq was about to be named the President of Basketball Operations of Reebok. He used that information to offer his son a job and to keep him in the United States.
“I know I always make fun of what you wear, but I really want you to help rebrand Reebok. I want your help with the shoes, the clothes, and you know, like helping us sign players,” Shareef recalled Shaq’s offer.
However, a job offer wasn’t all Shaq was offering. He told his son he could stay either in Boston or Miami and keep honing his basketball skills.
“He’s like, you live in Boston or Miami. He’s like, if you do this, you know, you could train all you want but he’s like just do this for me. I’ll get you a place to stay in either Boston or Miami. He’s like just work for me.”
The idea of living in Miami appealed to Shareef, and that’s what he selected. He’s currently helping his dad work towards rebranding Reebok. Their plan is to become competitive with Nike and Jordans and get to an average yearly revenue of $10B.
