Shaquille O’Neal Gives Son Advice On How To Play Basketball

You might think Shaquille O’Neal would give pointers to his son Shareef from his own basketball career, right? No, that wouldn’t be right, because there is someone else Shaq told his son to model his game after — Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans.

“I told him to watch Anthony because he’s probably going to be the same height and have the same type of build,” said O’Neal. ”Not skinny, but long.”

“He’s (Davis) probably the best at that position,” O’Neal continued. “He can run, rebound, dominate, take over games. He’s going to do his thing this year.”

It seems that O’Neal has changed his tune about Anthony Davis. In an interview with Wall Street Journal last month, he said Anthony wouldn’t be a rival to him. “Too little for me,” said O’Neal. “That’s barbeque chicken down there.”

That was most likely just Shaq’s humorous side talking because in December of last year O’Neal gave Davis nothing but praise on Tiki and Tierney.

“I like Anthony Davis because he does it all. I was taught as a youngster if you don’t get the rebound and you don’t want to be doubled, be the first up court. Run. Run your a** off. Run. I was taught to get the rebound, throw elbows. I was taught to play in the high-percentage area. He does that. He doesn’t try to do too much, and he can step out and shoot the jumper. I never did that, but he can do that.”

(VIDEO) @Shaq on why he told his son to study Anthony Davis' game: http://t.co/OVvfDbjABG pic.twitter.com/u9ZHLhQEi6

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) September 19, 2015

Young O’Neal is 6’8″ and entering his sophomore year at the Windward School in Los Angeles as a forward. Shareef already has gotten the attention of talent scouts, he has received college scholarship offers including USC and UCLA. Shareef has two more years to play in high school basketball, and that means two more years to develop his talent before going to college. The younger O’Neal definitely has some skills — he has played in several tournament hoop games over the summer and below are highlight videos of his games.

Below is a video of the younger O’Neal playing with California Supreme in Houston back in May at the Big Cup 2015.

Watch Shareef catch a one-handed OOP in Vegas!

What do you think about Shaq’s comments about Davis? Do you think Shareef O’Neal has a chance to make it big in basketball and fill his father’s shoes? Please share your comments below.

[Photo via Sports Illustrated]