UCLA Men's Basketball: Ex-Bruins Forward Provides Fresh Intel On Bronny James' Health
TMZ Sports recently caught up with former UCLA Bruins big man Shareef O'Neal, now with the G League Ignite, for some special insight into the status of his comrade LeBron "Bronny" James Jr., the 18-year-old USC freshman out of Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth who suffered a cardiac arrest on the morning of July 24th that potentially could derail not just his first NCAA season but possibly his entire playing career.
O'Neal, who like Bronny is the son of a Los Angeles Lakers superstar (O'Neal father is 15-time All-Star center Shaquille O'Neal, James' dad is 19-time Lakers All-Star forward LeBron James) offered up a fairly hopeful message, all things considered.
"He's good," O'Neal told TMZ. "I don't think it'll affect anything [when it comes to his playing career]."
Although USC and UCLA are bitter Pac-12 rivals, who frequently compete against each other when it comes to both their own conference and signing top recruits, player health obviously supersedes any petty school squabbles. It's nice to know that O'Neal and James are so collegial.
To be fair, O'Neal's UCLA career was fairly short-lived. He had to sit out his entire 2018-19 true freshman season after doctors discovered that he had his own heart issue, and the 6'10" big man went under the knife for an open heart surgery.
O'Neal had been recruited by head coach Steve Alford, who was fired heading into O'Neal first healthy season, 2019-20. With Mick Cronin in charge, O'Neal barely got an opportunity. After just a few months of being a fringe rotation player under Cronin, O'Neal revealed in January 2020 (following his fifth DNP-CD) that he would transfer to his father's alma matter, Louisiana State University, during the 2020-21 NCAA season.
In just 13 games with the Bruins, he averaged 2.2 points on 32.1% shooting from the floor across 10.2 minutes a night.
