Shareef, son of Los Angeles Lakers and NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal, made his summer league debut for the Lakers. After going undrafted last week, Shareef made the Lakers’ summer league roster. He came off the bench against the Miami Heat and he didn’t wait long to get his first basket for the Purple & Gold. In 16 minutes of play, he scored 6 points with 6 rebounds and 1 assist. 

As a proud father, Shaq chose to celebrate his son’s landmark moment and shared the video of his first basket on Instagram. Even though O’Neal didn’t approve of his son’s decision to test the waters in the NBA at the moment, he must be happy for his son.

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Shareef’s first basket came in the low block like his father. The Lakers won the game comfortably with a scoreline of 100-66.

Shaquille O’Neal wanted his son to better himself

Before the NBA draft, Shareef O’Neal had pre-draft workouts with multiple teams, including the Lakers. After his workout with the Lakers, Shareef revealed his father, Shaquille O’Neal, didn’t want him to enter the NBA draft this year. 

“We kind of bump heads about this process,” Shareef said. “He wanted me to stay in school. I wanted to better myself through this. He knows I’m working out with teams. But I’m not going to lie, we ain’t talked about this. I’m kind of just going through it. He didn’t do any pre-draft workouts; he just got straight on the [Orlando Magic], so it’s a different grind…”

Shareef also said that his father didn’t like the idea. He said that he’s a grown man who can make his own decisions. He also said that he always takes what is in front of him head-on. And that’s how he approached his heart problem as well. So he had to take this opportunity.

During his podcast, ‘The Big Podcast with Shaq’, O’Neal also talked about his son’s decision. He talked along the lines of Shareef as well. The Big Diesel admitted that his son is a grown man and can make his own decisions. He also said that he didn’t know his son was in Atlanta for a workout with the Hawks, even though Shaq himself was in Atlanta. 

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Shaquille O’Neal has won three titles with the Lakers. And won three Finals MVP awards. He has his own statue outside the Lakers arena. Even though it’s not actually the NBA, Shaq would be proud of his son for following in his footsteps with the Lakers. And he would want his son to prove himself and other critics.