Shareef O’Neal, the son of NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal, is inching closer to making the NBA. According to The Athletic, Shareef O’Neal is set to work out for multiple NBA teams. The former LSU star has a workout scheduled with the Los Angeles Lakers and also has visits with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Washington Wizards and Atlanta Hawks. O’Neal also worked out for the Milwaukee Bucks.
O’Neal, 22, started his college basketball career at UCLA after being one of the top recruits in the country. He took a medical redshirt his first year at the school and played 13 games the following season. On Feb. 14, 2020, O’Neal announced he was transferring to LSU, and due to injuries, the Los Angeles native saw limited action the last two years. He declared for the NBA Draft last week.ย
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“People saw my dad play, they saw the dominance he had in high school, college and in the NBA and I think that people just automatically try to translate that to me and my little brother,” O’Neal told the Los Angeles Timesย in 2019. “I feel like Dwyane Wade’s son gets it too and LeBron [James’] son gets it too. They just want you to be either what your dad is or better than your dad. It’s kinda hard. I kinda block out the noise. I know what I can do, my dad knows what I can do.”
Also in 2019, O’Neal spoke to 247Sports about the advice his father gave him when it comes to his basketball career. “He’s been telling me to play hard but learn on my own. He went through a different process where he was the number-one pick so it was a little easier for him,” he said. “He said when he was my age that his dad didn’t tell him anything and he kind of wants to do the same with me. He told me to play my game, ‘I know what you can do, not a lot of people have seen that after everything you have got through but show everybody what you can do, show everybody that you’re still here and that you can play the game of basketball.’”
