$500 Million Man Shaquille O’Neal Confirms Son Shareef Taking Over ‘Shaq’ Brand

Former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal's son Shareef last played for NBA G League Ignite.

$500 Million Man Shaquille O’Neal Confirms Son Shareef Taking Over ‘Shaq’ Brand

Shaquille O'Neal (Right) and Shareef O'Neal (Left) (Image credits - Firstsportz)

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Shaquille O’Neal has been heavily involved in the business world post-retirement. The 7’1″ NBA icon has found success off the court after his retirement in 2011. The financial savvy businessman has an estimated net worth of $500 million, largely due to his business deals and his contract with Inside The NBA, a popular halftime and postgame studio show for selected NBA on ESPN broadcasts.

The four-time NBA champion has several brand endorsement deals and is the President of Basketball Operations for Reebok, a brand he cut ties with in 1998 before resigning with them in 2024. Simultaneously, Shaquille O’Neal has a brand of his own called ‘Shaq’. The former Los Angeles Lakers center signed a deal with Walmart and has been able to sell over 400 million shoes in the last 25 years.

But it looks like O’Neal has stepped away and passed on the responsibilities of his brand to his son, Shareef, who will be able to connect with the next generation better. On an episode of “The Big Podcast”, O’Neal spoke about what his son brings to the brand.

My son is taking over now because my sh** was kind of old and he said ‘Dad, let me create something for the YNs’. I didn’t even know what YNs were. I was like ‘What’s the YNs?’ He said ‘Don’t worry about it.’ A lot of these are his design.

It is worth noting that heart complications hindered Shareef’s young basketball career and the 25-year-old was not able to follow his father’s footsteps.

Fans excited for Shareef’s new role

While his basketball career could never take off, it looks like Shareef has found a new passion and has already had his impact on the brand.

Fans took to the internet to share their excitement for the young O’Neal. Here are some of the reactions:

Shaquille O’Neal about being in movies

It is well known that O’Neal is one of the most successful and dominant basketball players of all time. Alongside the late Kobe Bryant, he won three back-to-back championships with the Lakers and another championship with the Miami Heat. It is also well known that he is a successful entrepreneur as well. But what separates O’Neal from the rest is he became a popular icon on screen too.

Shaquille ONeal and Adam Sandler 1
Shaquille O’Neal lifting Adam Sandler (Image credits – Looper)

A popular figure on Inside The NBA along with Charles Barkley that has entertained NBA fans for several years, O’Neal has also starred in movies alongside Hollywood star Adam Sandler. Both the stars were prominent figures in the 2000s. O’Neal felt like he needed to find a way to unplug himself from the pressure and noise during his time as a player, hence, he turned to Hollywood.

‘The Diesel’ appeared in quite a few movies, all made under Sandler’s production company. The NBA star spoke about his relationship with the famed actor and also how he ended up starring in these movies while still active in the NBA.

Music and movies kept me out of the…’You missed 30 free throws’. I would spend 20 hours worrying about that but I need time to recharge so I gotta laugh. One way to recharge is to laugh or hear something I like. Adam Sandler, still hot, but he was hot at the time. I’d always say, ‘Hey man, you got to put me in a movie.’ And he was smart. ‘Win me a championship big fella.’ He’d always say that. So then after the first championship, ‘Hey man put me in a movie.’ ‘Win another championship big fella.’ He would always say that.

Sandler is an avid basketball fan and has done a couple of basketball movies, the recent one being ‘Hustle’ for Netflix that featured cameos from NBA stars Anthony Edwards and Luka Doncic.

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