In his Hall of Fame speech, Shaquille O’Neal said, “Shaqir is also a fabulous little player and son, I hope to see you up here as well“. Even though the family feels Me’Arah O’Neal is the best in the family, it feels that Shaqir is coming for that title. And family members including mother Shaunie Henderson couldn’t contain their excitement on social media.

Shaqir uploaded a collaborative reel with his coach Justin Zormelo on his Instagram. He was showing behind the scenes of him practicing and training hard. Shooting from 3-point line, attacking in the paint, and doing some extraordinary dunks, Shaquille O’Neal’s youngest son is ready for the next season. Zormelo is known for training younger stars but also NBA stars. Kevin Durant called him a ‘stats geek’ along with calling him part personal trainer and part shot doctor, part video analyst, and part advance scout.

The O’Neals constantly hype each other on Instagram and even this time the family hyped up the 21-year-old. Me’Arah O’Neal said, “lookin gooood boy❤️‍🔥.” Amirah O’Neal was the first in the family to choose TSU and Shaqir followed suit. She wrote,” gooooo brother 🔥🔥” Mother Shaunie Henderson too did not give up on the chance of hyping her youngest son. “That’s my boy!!!!! 🔥🔥🔥,” she wrote in comments.

After averaging just 1.8 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 0.4 assists, Shaqir surely wants to improve on that record and is providing proof of his hard work.

Shaunie’s now husband Keion Henderson who also helped Shaqir in his collaboration reel with SKIMS wrote, “🔥🔥.” Shaquille O’Neal’s cousin the famous comedian and actor Bill Bellamy hyped his nephew. “That’s that sh*t💯💯💯🔥🔥🔥,” said the 59-year-old. The whole family is in support of the 21-year-old and his hooping skills. But there was a time when he scared the family especially his mother Shaunie.

In the absence of Shaquille O’Neal, Shaqir had Shaunie worried

In her memoir Undefeated, Shaunie revealed multiple stories about her children and the difficulties they had to face. From Shareef O’Neal’s congenital heart defect in 2018 to Shaqir feeling something similar in his chest which had Shaunie worried. Impatient Shaqir called Shaunie and explained that he felt a pain in his chest. Further explaining that it was due to the bench press rod hitting his chest. And instead of waiting for his mom, he insisted on visiting the emergency room.

Not waiting for her mother to arrive, Shaqir asked Amirah who was at the time at TSU to take him to the hospital. Even when the doctors confirmed that it was just a bruised sternum, the youngest son of Shaquille O’Neal couldn’t let go of his paranoia. Shaunie described it, “This was about Shareef, of course. In his mind, the chest pain might be a symptom of the same arterial deformity his brother had.”

At the behest of Shaunie, doctors released Shaqir, and the car ride taught him an important lesson. She explained to him the difference between the magnitude of the problems and not to put the family through this ordeal again.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.