Shareef O’Neal Says He Disagreed With Dad on NBA Draft Decision

NBA prospect Shareef O’Neal apparently didn’t agree with his father, Lakers legend Shaquille, when he decided to declare for the draft and not stay in school to finish his senior year.

In an interview with The Athletic’s Bill Oram this week, Shareef shared that he and his dad were “butting heads” over the decision.

“I’m a grown man,” Shareef said. “I’m 22 years old I can make my own decision.”

And, the forward did just that.

Shaq’s NBA process was a bit different back when he was drafted No. 1 in the 1992 draft. Like his son, he played three seasons of college basketball before he was drafted. But, the major difference Shareef noted to ESPN was that his dad didn’t have to workout with teams in order to draw interest for signing him.

“We kind of bump heads about this process,” Shareef said. “He wanted me to stay in school. I wanted to better myself through this. He knows I’m working out with teams. But I’m not going to lie, we ain’t talked about this. I’m kind of just going through it. He didn’t do any pre-draft workouts; he just got straight on the [Orlando Magic], so it’s a different grind.”

After one season at UCLA and two seasons at LSU, Shareef initially entered the transfer portal in March for his senior year. But, the 22-year-old decided to declare for this year’s NBA draft instead.

Just this month, Shareef was scheduled to workout with the Bucks, the Cavaliers, the Hawks, the Wizards and the Lakers.

Shareef’s future will be determined on Thursday night during the 2022 NBA draft.