Ex-Magic Legend Shaquille O'Neal's Son Secures Draft Workout With Lakers
It's been 30 years since the Orlando Magic drafted Shaquille O'Neal with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1992 NBA Draft. Now, Shaq's son, Shareef O'Neal, hopes to hear his name called in the draft on June 23 after becoming eligible earlier this week.
According to a report from The Athletic, O'Neal has a workout scheduled with the Los Angeles Lakers, the team his father won three championships in eight seasons with after leaving Orlando. O'Neal has also already worked out for the Milwaukee Bucks and has scheduled visits with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks and Washington Wizards coming up.
O'Neal played three seasons of college basketball basketball – one season with UCLA and two with his father's alma mater, LSU. Before he played a game for UCLA in the 2019-20 season, O'Neal had to have open-heart surgery in 2018. If the team doctors hadn't discovered O'Neal's heart condition, he "could've died," according to his mother, Shaunie O'Neal.
The 6-10, 22-year-old forward posted averages of just 2.9 points and 2.1 rebounds per game while shooting 40.5 percent from the field in his three years of collegiate play, but he also only played 11 minutes per game – likely out of caution due the heart surgery.
When looking at his per 100 possession stats, though, O'Neal's averages in his final season at LSU were 17.6 points, 13.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game while shooting 50 percent from the field.
Shareef might not be the monster that his father was, mainly due to circumstances out of his control, but it would still be nice to see him work himself back from adversity to land on an NBA team. Even if that doesn't happen in the draft, he will still be able to sign with teams and an undrafted free agent and potentially join a G League team for further development.
And who knows? Perhaps Shareef will eventually find his way to Orlando to start his career like his pops did.
