Shaquille O’Neal passed quite a great set of genes to his eldest son, Shareef O’Neal. Shareef was poised to potentially become the next great big-man drafted into the NBA as he would continually dominate the high school basketball scene during his youth.
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O’Neal committed to Arizona but would later retract his commitment after it was found out that they had bribed Deandre Ayton with $100,000 worth of incentives to join their team. Shareef would go on to join UCLA but his progress into becoming a star in the NBA would receive a severe roadblock due to his heart condition.
He signed on a medical redshirt and missed the 2018-19 season in its entirety due to him needing open heart surgery. He would return during his sophomore year but later transferred from UCLA to his father’s alma mater, LSU, where he finished off his junior and senior years.
Shaunie O’Neal shares a story regarding her son and his friend going through open heart surgery
Shareef O’Neal has bounced back from his open heart surgery as he currently plays in the G-League and produces on a nightly basis for the most part. While he doesn’t have the requisite talent to make it to the NBA as of yet, it’s refreshing to see someone try this hard at fulfilling their dream.
One of Shareef’s friends took to Instagram to share on his story that he had gone through a similar open heart surgery and would use the platform to congratulate his ‘Zipper Boy’.
“I’m happy for you broham. We both had open heart surgery and I love to see you continue to strive. No one ever said our lives would be easy but we make it work and I’m proud of you because it’s not easy to play on that level at all, let alone after heart surgery. Keep on grooving. ZipperBoys for life!”
Shareef O’Neal stats
In his first season with the G-League Ignite, Shareef O’Neal hasn’t been all too impressive. While he did put up 17 points in the recent, ‘Next Up’ game, his averages across the season are lackluster at best.
Shareef, in just over 13 minutes of runtime, has been averaging 5.7 points per game on 53% shooting from the field while posting up an assist to turnover ratio of 1. Given his skinny frame, his rebounding isn’t quite there yet either as he averages less than 3 rebounds a night.
