When Bronny James suffered a cardiac arrest in July 2023, Shareef O’Neal reached out to the then-USC basketball star. Shareef offered his advice to LeBron James’ son during his recovery. It wasn’t only the fact that they shared a unique bond as sons of Lakers legends that prompted O’Neal to offer help to James, but the fact that he had himself gone through a similar ordeal a few years earlier.

In 2018, Shareef made headlines after he signed for UCLA. A path to follow in his legendary father’s footsteps was now clear. But he had little idea that a routine team physical would turn his world upside down.

A heart test that he had an anomalous coronary artery, a congenital heart defect that caused the artery to grow in the wrong place. Shareef was informed to get his mother and it was then they revealed that he would be required to undergo open heart surgery. Shareef recalled the ordeal in episode four of “Then They Rose.”

His mother, Shaunie Henderson accompanied him to Stanford, where the procedure would take place. As they entered the hospital room, seeing the picture of a heart on the wall and being surrounded by doctors, brought back memories of childhood for Shareef. As a child, his heart used to beat faster than normal and heart issues popped up every now and then. “And I really didn’t listen to what they said was going on cuz I was crying so much and my head was down. My dad was on FaceTime,” he said.

The diagnosis and the decision to carry out the surgery was quick and it didn’t give his father the time to be there for him. Shareef mentioned how he was upset that after getting so close to starting his journey, he was stopped in his tracks.

It was right after he was voted the number 1 player of the California state by ESPN, where he was also labeled as a 4-star recruit with a 32nd ranking in ESPN’s top 100. But about three weeks before the new season, Shareef found himself on the operation table. On December 13, he had successful surgery at the Ronald Reagan Medical Center at UCLA.

He had to miss the entire season but recovered gradually and was back on the court less than a year after his open heart surgery. Shareef made his debut for the Bruins in the 2019/20 season playing six minutes against Long Beach State. But his road to recovery wasn’t easy.

Last year in July, in an interview with Erik Mika on Now For Later podcast, Shareef revealed that he had gone down to 170 pounds from 215 pounds and that he was “super skinny,” with his ribs visible. He had also lost appetite and had to be force-fed in the hospital. For him, this experience was what allowed him to offer his help to Bronny James.

“Me and Bronny our situations they’re not similar but they are similar. You know, ours both happened in our first year of college. I was at UCLA, he was at USC,” said Shareef. The now-Lakers star had collapsed to the ground during practice owing to a cardiac arrest that was caused by a congenital heart defect.

Speaking to Good Morning America last year, O’Neal revealed he checked in on Bronny and offered his help. “I just said, any questions you have, you can ask me because I can probably answer them for you.”

While it was a testing time for Shareef, his mother who was there with him also had a tough time when his son was diagnosed with the condition.

Shaquille O’Neal’s ex-wife describes the ordeal through her POV

After hearing about the situation, Shareef and his mom left the room and couldn’t even reach their car. They sat on a bench and what followed was only natural. “I held my boy and let him cry, and I cried with him for what felt like forty-five minutes,” Henderson revealed in her book, “Undefeated: Changing the Rules and Winning on My Own Terms.”

“I remember thinking, either he chooses the surgery and I’m going to lose my mind until he’s out of recovery, or he doesn’t get it and I’m going to lose my mind for the rest of my life, worrying about him every minute of every day,” thought the 24-year-old’s mother.

The decision about the surgery was not taken by Shaquille O’Neal or Shaunie Henderson. They explained to Shareef both the possibilities of how would it affect the rest of his life. Ultimately, Shareef decided to have the surgery and came out stronger after the operation.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.