Shareef O’Neal, Who Survived Life-Threatening Condition, Admits Massive Disagreement with Father Shaquille O’Neal

NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal’s son Shareef O’Neal recently made his G League debut with Ignite in Las Vegas. The 6’10 power forward was undrafted in the NBA draft this year and signed an NBA summer league deal with the Los Angeles Lakers in July. Shareef had already missed out a year and a half due to a life-threatening heart condition. So, he decided to leave LSU and try out for the NBA draft. Unfortunately, Shaquille O’Neal was not happy with his son’s decision, and the two ended up having a massive disagreement.

Shareef revealed the details about his disagreement with Shaq during a recent interview with ESPN. It took the Big Diesel a while to get along with Shareef’s decision. Shaquille O’Neal’s son also talked about his struggles with his heart condition that nearly took basketball away from him. Shareef felt that he would have to give up his passion and find something else in life. 

Shaquille O’Neal makes peace with his son’s decision

Shareef revealed that his family and coaches were against his decision of leaving LSU. The 22-year-old talked about bumping heads with his father over his decision to drop out of college and enter the NBA draft. The young hooper has missed a lot of time due to his condition and multiple stress fractures during his time at LSU. He averaged 2.6 PPG in 37 appearances playing for UCLA and LSU.

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Shareef made a choice for himself and went against his father’s wisdom to pursue his dream of going pro. However, Shaquille O’Neal began to come around when Shareef tried to make his father understand his perspective.

Shareef said, “He was like, ‘You’re my son. I’m going to support you no matter what.” The younger O’Neal added that the heartening conversation with his father brought them and their family closer than ever. 

Shaq helps Shareef out after the reconciliation

After the end of Shareef’s summer league contract, he did not have many options with pro basketball. Therefore, Shaq decided to help his son out by finding a team. The four-time NBA champ connected with Ignite’s coach Jason Hart and the G League president Shareef Abdur-Rahim, helping Shareef find a roster spot with NBA G League Ignite.

Shareef O’Neal suggested that he was grateful for his father’s support and the progress they have made in their relationship since the disagreement. The younger O’Neal stated, “I feel like [my father and I] bumping heads at one time — that’s really the first time we had a disagreement like that–it made us closer than ever.”

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Thus, Shaquille O’Neal after initially disagreeing with his son helped him out later. It shows the love Shaq has for his family. Moreover, it is heartening to see Shareef back on the court after dealing with some tough times mentally and physically. Hopefully, his dream of making it to the NBA becomes a reality soon.