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Shareef O’Neal is seeking to comply with in his famous person father’s footsteps, nevertheless it appears as if Shaquille O’Neal has totally different aspirations for his 22-year-old son.
The topic got here up throughout a press convention following Shareef’s pre-draft exercise with the Los Angeles Lakers, whom his father performed for between 1996 and 2004.
In the course of the convention, Shareef mentioned how his profession plans differ from these his dad has in thoughts.
“We type of bump heads about this course of,” the 22-year-old started. “He needed me to remain in class. I needed to raised myself via this.”
“He didn’t do any pre-draft exercises; he simply obtained straight on the [Orlando Magic], so it’s a special grind,” Shareef added of his father. “So, he didn’t need me to do that, and I do know he in all probability doesn’t need me saying this, however sorry. We’re each grown. We’ll get previous it.”
Staying with reference to his well-known dad, Shareef spoke on the comparisons folks inevitably make between him and Shaquille.
“I really feel like me and him have an entire totally different story now. I went via some issues that he didn’t undergo. He was the No. 1 decide within the draft. I type of needed to grind to get right here. I needed to grind rather a lot,” he famous. “I needed to undergo some stuff these previous 4 years — foot accidents, coronary heart surgical procedures — and I don’t actually look to be in his shadow.”
“I do know it’s all the time going to be there, the comparability,” Shareef continued. “Each child goes to get in comparison with their dad who does the identical factor as them. In order that’s going to be there. It doesn’t trouble me.”
Embed from Getty Photographs
Shareef additionally spoke about how he feels the invitation to the pre-draft exercise helps to make up for him not “getting sufficient alternative” throughout school, as he performed basketball for each UCLA and LSU.
“I felt like, in school, I wasn’t getting sufficient alternative. I wasn’t feeling like myself in school,” he mentioned. “[The invite] type of opened a variety of doorways for me… I really feel prefer it actually introduced me again and type of confirmed a bit bit what I can do.”
“As soon as I began getting calls from groups to work out, I used to be like, ‘Man, that is what I need to do.’ I imply I’m right here, it’s proper in entrance of me, so simply go for it. So, I continued to work,” Shareef added.
Shareef gushed over the chance to don official Lakers gear, saying he was “starstruck.”
“I walked in at the moment, and I used to be type of starstruck. Like, I used to be actually born into this staff. My dad and Kobe received championships once I was born, and now it’s me placing on the Lakers gear. It was loopy. I used to be speechless, type of,” Shareef recalled.
“It’s such a blessing for a staff I grew up watching. My dad received championships with this staff and now that I’ve on Lakers stuff, it’s superb. It’s a dream come true,” he continued.
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