Shaquille O’Neal and his son are no strangers to fan expectations. It’s safe to say that LeBron James and Bronny are sailing in a parallel boat, if not the same one. The Lakers father-son duo has been catching a ton of heat after the Summer league games, and yeah, young Bronny didn’t ball out like his pops, LeBron, but let’s be real — you can’t expect him to dominate just because he’s a James. The kid’s just starting out, and as the 55th pick, he will take time. Cut him some slack. Big Diesel, a brutal hooper in his day and an even more brutal analyst, sympathized and even had the rookie Laker‘s back, after witnessing all the scares in the O’Neal household.

Shaq showed mad love for Bronny, saying, “Lil Bronny is my nephew. Yes. I wish him well. I know his work ethic and there are a lot of storylines good and bad behind that. I just hope everything goes off. I just sat here with Marlon Wayans on my podcast, he said, ‘I’m happy for I want the young fella to be happy,’ and I kind of know what he is going through because you know my son Shareef is still trying. He was a good player, he had the heart attack situation still trying to get in.”

This recent statement from Big Diesel just proves that he got real empathy for Bronny. Shareef also had a heart problem. When he was 18, he had to go through open-heart surgery after being diagnosed with an anomalous coronary artery. Stanford Health describes this diagnosis as a coronary artery that has an abnormality or malformation.

Shaquille O’Neal knows all about the grind that comes with health issues and still chasing your dreams, making his support for Bronny hit differently. “So, you know the only thing for kids like that is they have a lot of pressure because of the last name, like they don’t even really get the opportunity to do what they want, they are always going to be compared to us,” Shaq added on the OG podcast with Udonis Haslem. Being the sons of legends like Shaq and LeBron is a huge plus, but it also means massive expectations.

Bronny and Shareef are always going to be compared to their dad’s greatness. It is a tough gig. Shaq was a beast, one of the most dominant ever, and Bron’s still killing it like he’s in his prime. Trying to live up to that kind of legacy? The pressure is real.

However, the TNT analyst has been quite open with his son and his interest in pursuing the sport. A certain line that Papa Shaq told Shareef stands out…

Shaquille O’Neal’s son Shareef’s hoops journey hasn’t been remotely easy, but Big Diesel has kept an open mind amidst all the hustle

Shareef has spent much of his time living in his father’s shadow, constantly striving to carve out his own place in the basketball world. His game is compared to Shaq’s legendary style—those monster dunks and crazy rebounds that got Big Diesel into the Hall of Fame. Shareef’s got his own vibe, though, and he was determined to carve out his own path, despite the heavy legacy burden. Early on, he was tagged as a bust because he didn’t have a dominating presence on the court.

Even though he was a solid player—ranked 16th in the 2018 class by 247 Sports—he hit some major roadblocks. After undergoing open-heart surgery in 2018 and losing 45 pounds, he struggled to get minutes on his team once he was back. When he entered the 2022 NBA Draft, every team passed on him. But Shareef didn’t throw in the towel, despite his dad openly giving him the option to step away and pursue other avenues.

via Getty

“I tell them all the time we don’t need another basketball player in this family. I just want you to be happy. So my wish for Bronny is to be happy. I hate the storylines and I hate the nepotism. Talking on it doesn’t matter, he’s in. I want him to be happy,” Shaquille O’Neal concluded his analysis of the Shareef-Bronny situation.
After going undrafted, Shareef joined the Lakers for the 2022 Summer League and signed with the NBA G League Ignite in late September 2022. Since then, there’s no real on-court update, however, the youngster has been working with his dad, on a mission to rebrand Reebok’s strategy in the sports realm. On the other hand, Bronny is gearing up for his NBA debut. Thoughts?
Before leaving, do watch the Dual Threat Show hosted by BG12 where Bulldogs’ Asia Avinger details her experience with Kobe Bryant, her WNBA ROTY picks, and more in the video below.