Shaquille O’Neal’s son Shareef suffered a major setback in 2018. This was at the time when his career was seemingly taking off as he was making waves with his game. Unfortunately, he had a serious heart condition and had to get surgery done for the same.
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While narrating his story on Playmaker, Shareef revealed that he had a heart condition since he was a kid and often found himself at the hospital during his childhood. The 24-year-old also talked about his biggest fear when he found out in 2018 that undergoing surgery was the only option for him.
He said, “So much was going through my mind. I’m like, ‘Am I ever going to play basketball again?’ I’ve got to get a heart surgery, ‘Am I going to make it through this surgery?’ Like, it was so much that was racing through my head that I feel like I wasn’t the same for a long time.”
In a dark place mentally, Shareef claimed he tried to hide it from people around him so as to not worry them. But he couldn’t keep it inside for a long time as he feared that people would notice his absence on the court and ask questions.
The next few days post-announcement were tough, as everyone wanted to know more about it, but fortunately, people decided to give him his space.
After undergoing surgery, he was determined to make it back on the floor. He took it as a challenge for himself as he wanted to prove that he could still hoop. It took him some time, but Shareef managed to do what many thought was going to be impossible to do after such an enormous setback.
Shareef is still working hard on his dreams
Shaq’s oldest son said that his only goal was to continue playing basketball. Although making it into the NBA is his dream, even if he doesn’t get there, he won’t consider it a failure as long as he keeps trying for it. Post his surgery, he has made a lot of improvements to his game and has earned some major chances as well.
After two years at LSU, he declared for the NBA Draft in 2022 but went undrafted. Shareef ended up playing in the G League Ignite in 2022 and stayed there for a season. He has also played for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2022 NBA Summer League.
As of now, there’s no update from him on what direction he is taking with his career. The one thing that’s guaranteed is that he is working hard on himself and his game, and still plans on making it as a pro.
