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The Lakers will reportedly work out Shareef O’Neal, the son of one of the franchise’s biggest stars, in the coming days, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Shareef is the oldest son of Shaquille, who is not just a Lakers legend, but also an all-time NBA great and Hall of Famer.
Draft prospect Shareef O’Neal has an upcoming workout set with the Lakers, sources tell @TheAthletic. O’Neal worked out for the Bucks today and has scheduled visits to Cleveland, Atlanta and Washington among others. @ShamsCharania reported this week that O’Neal is draft eligible.
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) June 10, 2022
Shareef’s basketball journey has been a long, winding one, including in recent weeks. As Buha notes, it was only in recent days that he was ruled eligible for the draft after a miscommunication during the withdrawal process.
LSU junior Shareef O'Neal – son of Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal – is now eligible to be selected in the 2022 NBA draft, the league informed teams. A prior list of withdrawals mistakenly included O'Neal. The 6-foot-10 prospect stays in Draft and has upcoming team workouts.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 6, 2022
Prior to even landing in college, Shareef decommitted from Arizona following an FBI investigation into the program before committing to UCLA. A diagnosis of a heart condition led to surgery and ultimately cost him the entirety of the 2018-19 season for the Bruins.
Shareef would eventually transfer to his father’s alma mater in LSU where a foot injury in the second half of his first season sidelined him not just for the remainder of that season, but the first half of the following 2021-22 season. After playing just 14 games with the Tigers this most recent season, Shareef entered the transfer portal and eventually declared for the draft.
In total, he played 37 games across three seasons, averaging 2.6 points and 3.0 rebounds while shooting 40.5% from the field in 11 minutes per contest. He played just 406 minutes in college.
Once a four-star recruit, O’Neal is not on any sort of draft big boards, largely due to the lack of time he had on the court during his college career. Shareef isn’t quite the hulking force his father was — no one ever will be — but he does stand at 6’10” and 225 pounds.
Coincidentally, this is the second son of an NBA legend the Lakers have worked out in the pre-draft process. Earlier this week, Scotty Pippen Jr., son of Bulls Hall of Famer Scottie, worked out for the Lakers.
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