When we last saw Shareef O’Neal, he was playing for the Lakers in the NBA Summer League.
Now, according to The Athletic, Shareef is headed to the G League.
Sources told The Athletic that Shareef, son of NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal, will sign a six-figure deal to play next season for NBA G League Ignite. The move will give him the ability to develop his game and hopefully make it to the NBA.
O’Neal began his career at UCLA but transferred to LSU after returning from open heart surgery to fix a serious heart condition.
He then left LSU as a junior to enter this year’s NBA Draft. While he wasn’t selected, the Lakers invited him to play on their summer league team.
The future continues to be bright for Shareef, a sharp contrast to December 2018 when he had the aforementioned open heart surgery following a routine physical where doctors discovered the ailment.
Shareef was diagnosed with a right anomalous coronary artery, an ailment in which the artery grows in the wrong place. Undetected it could lead to heart infection, stroke and heart failure.
But the doctors found it and took action, otherwise he “could’ve died from it,” said his mother, Shaunie O’Neal.
Now, he’s taking another positive step towards his dreams of becoming an NBA player like his father.
