LSU Tigers’ Shareef O’Neal Praises Indiana Pacers’ Cassius Stanley For His Exquisite Dunk

The NBA All-Star weekend is over. While the fans enjoyed the Three-Point Contest and the All-Star Game, the Dunk Contest didn’t get the same love. A lot of fans, including LSU Tigers’ Shareef O’Neal, were of the opinion that Indiana Pacers’ Cassius Stanley didn’t get enough appreciation from the judges for his first-round dunk.

Stanley had a between-the-legs dunk as his first-round attempt. At first glance, it may not seem too special. But during slow motion, as O’Neal pointed out on Twitter, it is much harder than it seems.

During most between-the-legs dunks, the ball goes under the leg that takes off first. But during Stanley’s dunk, he did the opposite, taking the ball under the other leg, which he used to jump off. That is an insane amount of hang time. And unlike other dunks, he bounced the ball and caught it, instead of just dribbling with it, making it tougher. O’Neal was famous for his dunks in high school, so he knows the difficulty.

Despite this, the judges deemed it to be worth just 44 points, which inevitably led to Stanley’s elimination after the first round.

LSU Tigers’ Shareef O’Neal ruled out for the rest of the season

After a disappointing freshman season with the UCLA Bruins, O’Neal transferred to the LSU Tigers. Fans were hoping there would be an improvement and he would be able to showcase his talents more. But after playing just 13 games off the bench for the Bruins, he played just 10 games off the bench for the Tigers.

The #38 prospect in the country after high school, O’Neal has been disappointing. While he hasn’t got a lot of opportunities yet, he has failed to capitalize when he got the chance. This season, he averaged 2.8 points and 4.4 rebounds per game while shooting a terrible 37%.

After being out of action since the first week of February, the Tigers have now confirmed O’Neal will miss the rest of the season. While it isn’t a big blow to the team, it certainly is for the 21-year-old who wants to prove himself. There are a lot of expectations for children of former NBA players, and being the son of a Hall of Famer can make it tougher.

Tigers fans will hope O’Neal will have a strong return next season and can become a solid contributor.