Shaquille O’Neal revealed his jealousy over LeBron James and Bronny James’ historic feat as the first father-son duo to play together.
Shaquille O’Neal reveals his jealousy over LeBron James’ historic achievement
Shaquille O’Neal is one of the greatest players to ever step foot on an NBA court. With 4x Championships and 15x All-Star nods under his belt, there should seemingly be nothing that makes the 52-year-old jealous.
However, during an episode of his latest podcast, Shaq revealed one of his greatest regrets which he still feels jealous about and it’s got something to do with Lebron James. Lebron and his son Bronny James will be creating history this season, by becoming the first father-son duo to play in the NBA together.
While this achievement has been lauded by many, Shaq revealed that he feels a sense of jealousy towards this historic achievement. That said, he wished the James pair the very best as we head into the 2024-25 season.
You know, on the professional jealousy side, I wish that was me and Shareef, or you know me and Shaqir. But I’m happy for Bronny and I’m happy for LeBron, and I wish him well.
Shaquille O’Neal said
“I would’ve loved to have had that title first.”
– Shaq on Bronny and LeBron James being the first father/son duo to play together in the NBA pic.twitter.com/WH0P7JWUv4
— The Big Podcast (@bigpodwithshaq) October 18, 2024
Shaquille O’Neal expressed his jealousy at the fact that he and his son did not get to be the first father-son duo to play together in the NBA. As Shaq mentioned in his podcast, he dreamt of being able to play with his sons Shareef O’Neal and Shaqir O’Neal too.
However, realistically the feat seems impossible for the 19-year NBA veteran The Big Diesel retired from the NBA in 2011. The earliest he could have played with his elder son Shareef O’Neal would have been in 2019, requiring the lumbering big to play another eight seasons in the league. Unfortunately, this seems a little unrealistic, even with the high standards that Shaq sets for himself.
What are Shaquille O’Neal’s sons doing now?
Shaquille O’Neal has six kids with most of them taking after their father with an interest in basketball. Shareef O’Neal is perhaps the most famous of them, as the 23-year-old forward was slated to be a D1 player at UCLA before undergoing a major heart surgery.
Following his surgery, Shareef returned to basketball, eventually signing with the Los Angeles Lakers’ Summer League team after going undrafted in 2022. After drifting around for a few years, the lanky forward finally signed to a roster spot with the Sacramento Kings this year.
As for Shaq’s younger son Shaqir O’Neal is currently playing D1 basketball for Florida A&M. The 21-year-old just finished his redshirt sophomore seasons with the TSU Tigers, before transferring to the Rattlers this year.
The NBA aspirations of the O’Neal kids are still well and running. But it remains to be seen if they can make a positive impact in the league.
