Shareef O'Neal did not exactly make waves during his brief Summer League stint with the Los Angeles Lakers in Las Vegas. The son of Hall of Fame big man Shaquille O'Neal was not able to secure his spot on the team this coming season, but at least he did enough to warrant a deal with the NBA G League Ignite squad.
Lakers icon Robert Horry has now chimed in on Shareef's current situation and his pursuit of his NBA dream. Horry played alongside Shaq for many years with the Lakers, and he is well aware of what the 15-time All-Star is capable of. In this respect, Horry got brutally honest with his assessment of the younger O'Neal during a recent episode of his podcast (h/t FanNation):
“I picked up my phone and I was getting ready to call Shaq like ‘Yo man, you gotta tell your son…he can’t be playing off the damn O’Neal name. He gotta go out there and play.’ You gotta put forth some more effort man,” Horry stated. “You know Shareef’s such a nice kid, that I don’t know if he has that dog in him to go out there and take what he wants.”
That's rough. Then again, this is probably the tough love Shareef needs as he looks to follow in the footsteps of his father — a blessing and a curse given how dominant Shaq was during his time in the NBA.
Robert Horry's message is coming from a place of support and he's clearly rooting for the 22-year-old. Hopefully, his advice here somehow gets to Shaq and Shareef. It may be a bit harsh, but it might be the nudge Shareef needs right now.
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