“My dad, he’s the type of person, he doesn’t care if we played basketball, if we were skateboarding, if we wanted to be gardeners. He just wants us to put our all into it and make sure we’re having fun doing it.” Recently, Shareef O’Neal revealed that there was no pressure to continue his father’s legacy. The son of NBA icon Shaquille O’Neal was very close last season, making his dream come true, but now it remains unfulfilled.

First, talking about the unfulfilled dream, Shaq’s eldest has still not given up playing in the NBA. In a conversation last year on the Then They Rose podcast, the host asked Shareef, “Since you’re not so much into the basketball thing anymore, what’s next for you?” Clearing the air about his hooping dream, Shareef replied, “I’m still playing basketball. I played my first pro year the season before [2022-23],” referring to his stint with the G League Ignite. Later, he also shared that his budding career had to pivot after his father asked for a favor.

“He’s like, ‘Can you do me a favor this year? Can you help me rebrand Reebok? I’ll let you help redesign the shoes… redesign the clothes and help sign players. I really need your help.” There were two reasons behind Shaquille O’Neal’s request. The first was because he accepted the president of Reebok’s basketball operations role in October 2023. But Shaq felt his son would be a valuable addition to the $2.46 billion-worth brand’s basketball wing. That’s why he asked for the favor during the Thanksgiving dinner in 2023.

The second was that Shareef underwent open-heart surgery to treat an anomalous coronary artery diagnosis in 2018. In order to revive his career, the Big Aristotle‘s son wanted to go to Australia. But the 4x NBA icon and his ex-wife Shaunie weren’t on board with his son’s move 7,500 miles away from home. Since then, Shareef has taken over his role at Reebok well and was also part of the Reebok Engine A. However, the 25-year-old did an interview with a Miami-based content creator and spoke about his yet unfulfilled dream.

“Yes, my dream is to make it to the NBA, and that’s the only dream I really have right now.” When asked about any particular team that comes to mind, the answer from Shareef was very genuine and felt like an emotional request. “Any team that’s willing to give me a chance. I don’t care where I am, I just want to play.” That team last year was the Sacramento Kings.

Shaquille O’Neal’s son is hopeful despite the setback

Shining in the spotlight early on, he entered the spotlight as a 4-star high school recruit, committing first to UCLA before transferring to LSU, his father’s alma mater. That’s when the surgery derailed his momentum. Despite going undrafted in 2022, Shareef persisted, joining the Lakers’ Summer League team and later the G League Ignite, but again, he was close last season.

A brief Exhibit 10 deal with the Sacramento Kings in 2024 ended with him being waived and reassigned to their G League affiliate team. Even with the Stockton Kings, he did not make the final roster list. Although his hooping dream has yet to materialize, he has made the most of his time. He did agree to take up the Reebok role and somewhat kept his NBA goal on the back burner.

But after the recent interview, it seems pretty clear that taking Shaquille O’Neal’s legacy forward on the hardwood is the way to go for Shareef. It will also serve as a reminder that he once was a 4-star recruit with a lot of potential.