“We both had Open Heart Surgery”: Shaquille O’Neal Will be left in Tears With This Eye-Opening Message for His Son

NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal is a proud father of six. Four of the six are in pursuit of being the best basketball players they can be. Notably, Shareef O’Neal is now grinding in the G-League in the hopes of making the NBA in the future. Shareef’s basketball journey started off great. He was one of the best high school basketball players in the country and earned a full scholarship at UCLA to play Division I college basketball. However, things then took a shocking turn.

He was diagnosed with a heart issue, and it required immediate surgery. This cast a huge doubt on his basketball career. But everyone was only thinking about his health threat and the surgery.

Shareef O’Neal receives an emotional message

The surgery was a success, and the family breathed a sigh of relief. However, the doctors said that Shareef O’Neal would need a lot of time to even walk and he might not be able to play basketball again. But Shareef was not ready to accept that and was determined to prove them wrong. He started walking much earlier than anyone imagined and then started playing basketball again. He then returned to play college basketball against all odds. Now, Shareef is playing for the Las Vegas Ignite in the G-League. He has had some good performances recently and made some massive highlight plays as well.

His performances earned him a spot in the G-League All-Star team and he did not disappoint. After his display, the upcoming musician, Philly Blunts, who also had to go through heart surgery sent an emotional message via Instagram. He wrote, “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 groovin.”

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This caught the eye of Shareef’s mom, Shaunie Henderson, who shared it on her Instagram story. It is likely Shaquille O’Neal would have also come across the heartfelt message and would be proud of his boy. In the All-Star game, he had some massive slams and scored 17 points. He will be looking to continue this form in the season.

Shaquille O’Neal is a proud father

Shareef O’Neal did not play a lot of minutes and played only 37 games in his college career because of his heart issue despite his recovery. This did not help his resume and his chances of playing in the NBA. However, he wanted to declare for the 2022 NBA draft. But Shaquille O’Neal was not in agreement. Shaq thought his son should continue school.

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Despite this, Shareef declared for the draft and started pre-draft workouts with multiple teams. Unfortunately, he went undrafted, but the Los Angeles Lakers picked him for their Summer League squad. After some decent outings with the Lakers, he did not make their final squad. Then the G-League Ignite came calling. The Las Vegas side signed for a six-figure contract according to reports. The four-time NBA champion said he will always be proud of his son even if he does not play basketball.