Shareef O’Neal and Scotty Pippen Jr. have some big shoes to fill after landing two-way contracts with the Los Angeles Lakers during this year’s NBA Draft, taking after their legendary fathers, Shaq and Scotty.
According to The Athletic, 6-foot-10 O’Neal will be playing in the Summer League next month with the Lakers. Despite him facing health issues with his heart, O’Neal managed to finish his last season at Louisiana State University. During his junior season, the forward averaged 2.9 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.
Pippen Jr. sits at an impressive 20.4 point average during last season at Vanderbilt University yet didn’t get drafted during both rounds of player selection. The Vanderbilt guard received the news about the Lakers wanting him after the NBA Draft Thursday.
O’Neal and Pippen Jr. took to Twitter to express their gratitude for the new opportunity.
Dreams come true🙏 Let’s get to work #lakeshow 💜💛 pic.twitter.com/dYS6xiJYzL
— Scotty Pippen Jr (@spippenjr) June 24, 2022
💜💛 THANK YOU FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY @Lakers ! pic.twitter.com/z0TeRVVGed
— Shareef O’Neal (@SSJreef) June 24, 2022
Although Pippen Jr. plays for the Lakers, his father plays for the Chicago Bulls. Shaq played for the Lakers from 1996 to 2004.
On Tuesday, O’Neal spilled with ESPN that his father wasn’t too happy about his son entering NBA Draft, saying they bumped heads.
“He wanted me to stay in school,” O’Neal said. “I wanted to better myself through this. he knows I’m working out with teams. But I’m not going to lie. We ain’t talked about this. I’m kind of just going through it. He didn’t do any pre-draft workouts; he just got straight on the [Orlando Magic], so it’s a different grind.”
The 22-year-old added, “So, he didn’t want me to do this, and I know he probably doesn’t want me saying this, but sorry. We’re both grown. We’ll get past it.”
The NBA Summer League takes place in Las Vegas from July 7-17.
