Back in December 2018, Shareef O’Neal underwent open-heart surgery to treat an anomalous coronary artery diagnosis. What did Shaquille O’Neal tell his son before they took him to the OR? “Bro, when you wake up, I’m gonna be the first [person] you see. Trust me. If you don’t wake up, I’m coming right behind you…”

Well, Shareef did wake up after successful surgery and has since been trying to return to his top form in basketball. But when that meant having to move about 7,500 miles away from home, Shaq wasn’t completely on board. Having almost lost Shareef once in 2018 (after he couldn’t be at the doctor’s appointment where his son was diagnosed), the Lakers legend wasn’t ready to be more than a few miles away from the 24-year-old. And so, he offered Shareef a job.

In a conversation on the Then They Rose podcast, the host asked Shareef, “Since you’re not so much into the basketball thing anymore, what’s next for you?” Shareef replied, “I’m still playing basketball. I played my first pro year the season before [2023-24],” referring to his stint with the G League Ignite. Following that, he “was gonna go play basketball in Australia for this year, and things started to change with my family… in a good way.”

At the time (October 2023), Shaquille O’Neal was named the president of Reebok’s basketball operations. Allen Iverson joined the Big Aristotle as the vice president for the $2.46 billion-worth brand’s basketball wing. Tasked with rebranding and reimagining the company, Shaq felt his son would be a valuable addition to the team, which he proposed when they met on Thanksgiving last year.

“I was getting ready to go to Australia in late December,” Shareef recalled on the podcast. Describing his meeting with Shaq, the 24-year-old said, “We’re sitting. He’s like, ‘Australia’s far. You know you don’t have to go to Australia.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah.’” But on the inside, Shareef knew he wanted to. “I kind of just wanted to move. I don’t know why, but I was like, ‘Let me just go try something new,’” he revealed. That was when his father told him about his appointment as the president of Reebok. And asked for a favor.

“He’s like, ‘Can you do me a favor this year? Can you help me rebrand Reebok? I’ll let you help redesign the shoes… redesign the clothes and help sign players. I really need your help.” Back in the 80s – as surprising as it may seem – Reebok had overtaken Nike as the No.1 athletics brand in the world. In fact, in 1989, Reebok made $1.82 billion in sales compared to Nike’s $1.71 billion. However, by signing a particular someone named Michael Jordan, Nike caught Reebok off guard. The brand hasn’t seen the same success since.

While Reebok did sign Shaquille O’Neal and Allen Iverson in the 90s, hoping to have the same effect as Nike and Jordan, that didn’t happen. In the meantime, Adidas overtook Reebok, too. Three decades later, the scene hasn’t changed much for the company, but when it named Shaq the president of basketball operations, he came with one goal: “We’re getting back into basketball.”

via Getty

Seeing how much this meant to his father and all his family had done for Shareef, the 24-year-old said, “I wasn’t gonna go to Australia and move 16 hours away from my family.” Shareef underwent his open-heart surgery during his first year at UCLA. When he transferred to LSU after recovering, he suffered foot injuries in 2020 and 2021. Then, he played for the Lakers in the 2022 Summer League, averaging 4.7 points and 3.7 rebounds. However, it wasn’t enough for him to get drafted into the NBA, and this is where the Ignite came in.

Reportedly, Shareef signed a six-figure deal with the G League Ignite in the summer of 2022. He played in 20 games in 2022-23, averaging 5.6 points and 3.2 rebounds. However, this was also short-lived, as the league had its last game on March 28 before ending its operations. Now that Shareef O’Neal has taken a year off from basketball to help his father with Reebok, he has the same goal as Shaq. But he’s also working toward another goal, one he promised to fulfill after his stint with Reebok.

Shareef and Shaquille O’Neal are “doing a really good job” with Reebok

In May this year, Shareef tweeted, “Guys, I’ve been working along side my father with rebranding Reebok… and we will get it back to the top. I WILL BE HOOPING AGAIN, I know I’ve been missing and haven’t been posting what I’m doing, but I did not stop! I will be back soon! Just want to help out my dad.”

From what he said on the podcast, it looks like the father-son duo are close to achieving the first thing. “We’re doing a really good job. I say that by the time 2025 starts, Reebok will be up there with the rest of these brands. I’m glad I contributed to that,” he revealed. As for the second thing he mentioned in his tweet – getting back to basketball soon – there have been rumors that the 24-year-old could potentially be joining Waverley in the NBL. But there have also been talks of him leaving the sport.

Well, the first one is true. However, the second rumor isn’t. “As long as I play basketball every day, I’m good. I plan to go back to basketball one day, but it’s good to take this year off and help my dad,” he said. “I’m happy where I am right now. Still in shape; I can still compete against anybody in the world, I believe, which is also cool that I’m doing networking, working, and still working out at the same time.”

As part of the Reebok family, Shareef’s job is to help people reconnect with the brand. Now that we know this, we cannot wait to see what Reebok has in store for its fans in the coming years.