Shareef O'Neal, the son of Los Angeles Lakers icon Shaq, made his debut for the purple and gold on Saturday. LA hosted the Miami Heat in the NBA Summer League and it was an opportunity for Shareef to start his Lakers journey — similar to how his dad did many years ago.
Shareef needed just seven seconds to make his first official bucket as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers (h/t Bleacher Report on Twitter):
Shareef O'Neal suits up for the first time as a Laker 🌟 pic.twitter.com/hX7WBLyH7M
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 2, 2022
Shareef finished the game with six points, six rebounds, and an assist in 16 minutes of action. It wasn't exactly a spectacular debut from the 22-year-old, but he was able to help the Lakers secure a 100-66 blowout win over Miami.
Apart from O'Neal, another son of an NBA legend also made quite an impact for the Lakers on Saturday. Scotty Pippen Jr., the son of six-time champ Scottie Pippen, also came through for LA, logging 14 points, six rebounds, and three assists in 35 minutes of action.
It was incoming second-year combo guard Mac McClung who stole the show for the purple and gold, though, scoring a game-high 17 points in just 16 minutes off the bench.
For his part, it remains unclear if Shareef will be able to make the cut for the Lakers this coming season. He went undrafted in the recently concluded 2022 NBA Draft, but he is still working hard to make his NBA dream come true. He isn't taking the same path his father took a couple of decades ago, but the important thing is that Shareef still has a real chance to make it in the big league.
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