Is Shaquille O’Neal a bad sport when it comes to pickup basketball? His son Shareef sure thinks so.
Shareef, a junior forward at LSU, said he hasn’t played his father one-on-one in about five years. Part of that may be because, in the younger O’Neal’s estimation, Shaq “plays super dirty” and “fouls a lot.”
“If we score on him, he’ll say it’s a travel,” Shareef told Josh Peter of USA Today. ‘He’ll say anything. I won, but he wants to say he won because he was playing dirty.”
The younger O’Neal added that his father won’t play him or brother Shaqir anymore and avoids any requests to join their games.
“All he does is just kind of stunt on us,” Shareef said. “He’ll tell us, ‘No, I’ve been doing this for 20 years.’ He’s like, ‘I taught you everything you know.’ He’ll say how many (NBA championship) rings he has.”
We do know Shaq and Shareef have a good relationship with some pretty fun banter. There’s little doubt that Shaq would have a very different interpretation of how these pickup games went, but you can understand why he might not want to go after a college basketball player in peak shape these days.
Mar 10, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; NBA former player Shaquille O’Neal watches a game between the Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors in the third quarter at Philips Arena. The Hawks won 105-99. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
