“I Used To Hate It”: Despite Shaaquille O’Neal’s “Hard” on Court Drills, 4x NBA Champion’s Sweet Surprise Won Over His 23 YO Son
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Apart from being a Lakers legend, Shaquille O’Neal is the proud father of six children. Shaq has always made it a priority for his kids to finish their education. But he never stopped them from pursuing their passion. Most of his kids have stuck to their roots and taken up basketball as their career path.
Having Shaq as your training partner can be a bit intimidating, but this recently resurfaced video shows exactly how to play ball with The Diesel.
Shaquille O’Neal trains his kids to help them achieve their dreams
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In the video, Shaq can be seen sharing knowledge about the sport with his kids. He is mostly focused on his son, Shareef O’Neal, who at the time was nearing his goal of getting to the NBA. He joined UCLA to play college basketball the following year.
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But even Shareef mentions in the video that Shaq was more hard on his youngest son, Shaqir O’Neal. He had the most to learn since he was the youngest. The most surprising thing in the video was seeing Shaq doing the drills with his kids. Even his kids pointed out that it was unexpected.
Shareef stated that “at first I used to hate it“. But then he revealed that now it’s fun to have him around in the gym. He further stated that it’s his younger brother who has it worse. Shaq is harder on his youngest son, Shaqir O’Neal, who has to work the most because he has the most to learn.
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Shareef then went on to show some post moves with Shaq in the position of the defender. The young 17-year-old wanted to make his dad proud and make it to the NBA, but things didn’t go how he expected them to.
Nothing is guaranteed in life, including health
Three weeks before his season at UCLA was about to start, Shareef received rather unpleasant news about himself. He was diagnosed with ‘anomalous coronary artery’ which is an abnormality or malformation in the coronary artery in his heart. This was a heartbreaking moment for the O’Neal family, as this was something that was life-threatening. He could continue playing basketball, but there was always a chance of his heart collapsing.
This was tough news for the No. 1 recruit in California to hear at the time. Even though he was initially scared, he went on with the surgery. After his surgery, lost close to 35 pounds and was extremely skinny. He spent the next year recovering, and towards the end of 2019, he came back to UCLA but was only able to come off the bench for a limited time.
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He later transferred to Louisiana State University. After completing two years at LSU, he declared for the NBA draft in 2022 but went undrafted.
Shareef later signed with the G-League Ignite and currently plays for them. Shareef has since stated that he wants people to know him as the kid who faced adversity in his life and got swayed from his way. But, with hard work, he was able to come back to his path and reach his goals.
Now Shareef is showcasing his talents in the Ignite team to hopefully one day make it to the NBA and play on the level his father did.
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Do you all think he will be able to make a starting roaster in the NBA? Let us know in the comments below.
Edited by:
Debmallya Chakraborty