Shareef O’Neal is giving an update this week on his friend Bronny James, and it sounds like a very positive one.
O’Neal, the son of basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal, spoke to TMZ this week and shared a notable update on James after James suffered a cardiac arrest late last month. While the health scare cast major doubt on James’ basketball future, O’Neal believes that James will be able to continue his career unaffected.
“He’s good,” said O’Neal of James. “Yes, sir.”
Upon then being asked if he thought that James’ career would be impacted, O’Neal replied, “No, not at all, actually. I don’t think it will affect anything.”
While O’Neal isn’t a medical professional, he does have firsthand experience on the subject. O’Neal had to pause his basketball career a few years ago due to a heart issue of his own. He was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect (an anomalous coronary artery) and underwent open heart surgery in 2018. O’Neal has since made a full recovery and played three seasons in college before signing with the G League Ignite in 2022.
When it comes to James, whom O’Neal is close friends with, he collapsed on the court on July 24 during a practice at USC, where he is committed to play college ball. He was attended to quickly though and arrived at the hospital “fully conscious” and “neurologically intact” before being discharged from the hospital just a few days later. A recent insight that was shared about James also proved to be very encouraging.
