Shaquille O’Neal’s son Shareef is a junior at LSU. The same school his father starred at before entering the NBA in 1992. After a recent game against Missouri with his father in attendance the two shared a moment postgame and the younger O’Neal took to Twitter for a little fun. Shareef posted a photo with him and his dad and questioned the elder’s listed height of 7 feet 1. Because Twitter isn’t fun, someone had to get in the comments and “well actually” Shareef over his dad’s height.
https://twitter.com/SSJreef/status/1498063820224348162
Hes not 7’1 i remember chillin wit your pops in NYC once he was wit Talib kweli & Alonzo Mourning and Mourning was like 2 inches taller
— Noetic_Mdt (@Noetic_MDT) February 28, 2022
What are we doing here? Someone allegedly was hanging with Shaq once and saw him next to Alonzo Mourning and surmised he is in fact two inches shorter. What?
I was at the Jefferson Awards NYC Gala in 2018 where Shaq was being honored. I interviewed him for 15 minutes. He’s looked every bit of 7-1 to me, and I’ve covered the NBA for years, so I know tall people when I see them.
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It’s obvious Shareef was just having a little fun and getting a little joke off. Why did this become something more than it was? You’ve got amateur Twitter docs talking about shrinking as you age and using anecdotal examples.
This is why we can’t have nice things or any fun. Every time somebody famous tweets or posts something, a certain segment feels they need to respond and interject. It’s cool to just laugh or even like the comment and even share it. No need to add your two cents.
Shareef started to defend his pops when Twitter detectives started saying Shaq was never 7’1 and likely always 6’10 and has gotten shorter.
https://twitter.com/SSJreef/status/1498144314328813568
But eventually he thought better and gave the final word on the ridiculous conversation.
https://twitter.com/SSJreef/status/1498144453214851086
Shaq even got in on the joke, saying he’s really 5’11.
Secrets out, I’m 5’11”
— SHAQ (@SHAQ) February 28, 2022
The younger O’Neal started his career at UCLA where he took a medical redshirt his freshman year due to a heart condition. During his second season he only played 13 games and announced he was transferring to his father’s alma mater LSU.
Shareef was injured and only played in 10 games last season, and he missed the first 12 games this season as he was dealing with another foot injury.
He finished with a season-high seven rebounds and season-high nine points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field that included 0-of-2 from 3-point range in a season-high 19 minutes in that game against Missouri.
He’s starting to earn more minutes and could be the spark for LSU in March as they head towards the conference tournament and postseason play.
“Hopefully this will give Shareef some confidence … and he can travel and play well for us at Arkansas,” head coach Will Wade said. “Because if he can play well and hit some threes and do what he does, finishing around the rim and just rebound, he can give us a little jolt here coming down the stretch, for sure.”
A strong finish down the stretch and in conference tourney and postseason play can springboard O’Neal into a strong summer before his redshirt senior season. He’s got the physical tools and can if he can harness it all, he can prepare himself to play professionally.
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