Being the child of a celebrity is never easy, a reality that Shaquille O’Neal’s son, Shareef O’Neal, knows all too well. Recently, the 24-year-old was asked when he first felt the weight of the world on his shoulders because of his father’s fame. Shareef vividly recalled the moment it all became overwhelmingly real and shared how it impacted him.
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When Shaq’s youngest son appeared on the ‘Then They Rose’ show, he revealed that he didn’t feel any pressure during his early life. Shareef explained that this was because most people around him were unaware of who his father was.
He then revealed that people started to find out about his relationship with ‘Diesel’ when he was in his early teens. And it culminated in the moment when the world had his eyes on him.
“I had an early [AAU] game. It wasn’t that packed, but I see a guy under the hoop with a camera. It’s a little small camera, I didn’t think anything of it. And I wake up a few days later, this video has like 11 million views on YouTube, and it’s like, ‘Shaq’s 15-year-old son’.
Shareef then admitted that his life changed from there. This is when he believed that he started to feel the real pressure.
“I go on my Instagram and I have thousands and thousands of followers now, and you know, everything is just going crazy. So, I would say when I was about 15. That was when things really started to… be considered pressure.”
Fame is a difficult thing for most adults to handle, so imagine what it can do to a 15-year-old child. Needless to say, Shaq’s youngest son had his fair share of strife with it. However, he did eventually get a hang of things.
In a 2017 interview, he admitted that he felt the pressure constantly. Shareef then revealed how he dealt with all the noise. Per For the Win, he said,
“I hear everything people in the crowd say, but it doesn’t bother me anymore … Depending on who you are and how big you are, the worse the crowd is gonna be toward you. Me having an NBA Hall of Famer as a dad, everyone’s coming at me. Everyone’s attacking me when I’m on the court. The more mature I get, the more I can handle it.”
Having had trials by fire early in his teenage, Shareef has come a long way. If he continues with his current attitude of being focused, there is no reason to believe he won’t make it to the highest level in the NBA.
