Shareef O’Neal and Ron Artest III Battle in LA

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Their fathers were fan favorites in Los Angeles but now hoop fans in Southern California are keeping a close eye out for the next generation in their respective families. The sons of former Lakers standouts Shaquille O’Neal and Ron Artest are now in high school and obviously garnering attention when they’re on the hardwood. Shaq’s kid, Shareef, is actually a top 20 national prospect in the Class of 2018 while Metta World Peace’s son, Ron Artest III, who just picked up interest in basketball a couple of years ago, is a junior at Beverly Hills High. The two recently matched up at the Ron Massey Classic in Cali. Peep the video above to catch them in action. Shareef (18 points) is #44 on the white team while Ron (14 points) is #1 on the black team.

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Shaquille O’Neal claims he got fan mail from a young Yao Ming

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It probably never happened, but Shaq still credits the letters for changing their relationship for the better.

Shaquille O"Neal and Yao Ming are entering the Basketball Hall of Fame together, which feels right. Not only were they arguably the last two traditional centers the league has seen, but they are also unlikely friends who seem to truly enjoy being around one another.

But it wasn"t always like that. Their relationship got off to a rocky start when O"Neal, trying to be humorous, mocked the Chinese language during Yao’s rookie year. "Tell Yao Ming, "Ching-chong-yang-wah-ah-soh,"" he said in an interview. He later apologized and Yao accepted it, but there was a sense that a bitter rivalry between the two best centers in the league was brewing.

That all changed quickly when Shaq embraced Yao later on in his rookie year, following a talk with his stepfather:

“He showed me letters that Yao used to write me when he was a youngster in China,” O’Neal said, according to The Sporting News. “Christmas cards, birthday cards. My father said, ‘The guy looked up to you.’ Most of the guys I was killing, I looked up to them. But he said Yao looked up to me, so show him a little more respect. Our relationship changed after that.”

O"Neal entered the league in 1992, when Yao was just 12 years old. It is technically possible for him to have idolized Shaq and sent him fan mail, even though he lived in China at the time and didn"t really know how to speak English. It doesn"t seem likely, though, which is why Yao laughed and denied ever writing him letters, according to The Houston Chronicle.

Did Shaq"s parents lie to him to get him to respect Yao? Did Shaq mistake correspondence he got from a grown Yao — the Chronicle points out that he sent Christmas cards to everyone in the Houston Rockets organization starting his rookie year — as fan letters? Who knows. All that matters is that after that initially bad start, their relationship evolved into one of mutual respect and, ultimately, friendship.

“I have been going to China for the last seven or eight years," Shaq said. "And we always get together, hang out with the families. He is a great man.”

Shaq typically doles out minimal praise to former rivals, but he really seems to like Yao. Maybe it"s all because of some misidentified mail, but who cares. No matter how it started, their friendship seems real.

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Shaquille O’Neal Used A Classic Mafia Movie Trope To Explain Why He Had To Leave Kobe Bryant

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Perhaps you’ve heard, but it’s Shaq Week over at NBA TV. In the lead-up to his Hall of Fame enshrinement this weekend, the network is doing all sorts of career highlights and retrospectives, one of the major events being “The Big Conversation,” an hour-long sit-down with TNT co-host Ernie Johnson, which premiered Wednesday night.

At one point, the discussion inevitably turned to his tumultuous relationship with Kobe Bryant, which ultimately led to his defection to Miami. And Shaq certainly didn’t disappoint when answering the question why he left Los Angeles. Via NBA.com:

“I didn’t want to leave, but being the veteran in the business of basketball, I realize that they’re can’t be two kings,” O’Neal said. “Every great movie that I’ve seen, mafia movies, the younger boss always takes out the older boss. So I knew it was going to happen. I said to myself going into the Finals, I put together this super team. I brought in Gary Payton. I brought in Karl Malone, Kobe, myself. I said if we don’t win, change is going to have to be made. Once we lost, I knew I was going to be in trouble.”

It’s a hilarious comparison, but essentially pretty accurate in terms of how things actually played out. The Lakers did, in fact, make a decision to move forward with Kobe rather than Shaq. But as opposed to being fitted for a pair of cement boots, the Big Diesel went onto to win a championship with the Heat, then slipped comfortably into a journeyman’s groove toward the end of his career, a fate much unlike that of most overthrown mafia dons, fictional or otherwise.

(NBA.com)

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Bear Grylls Used Leaves And Impressive Improvisation Techniques To Make Shaquille O’Neal Disappear

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‘Running Wild with Bear Grylls,’ for those of you out of the surviving on your own urine loop, is a show where famous survivalist and probably crazy person Bear Grylls takes other famous and probably less crazy celebrities into the wilderness and teaches them important skills they’ll need should they ever find themselves irrevocably lost in said wilderness. Shaquille O’Neal is one of the latest stars to get in on the action, and we can’t lie – it’s pretty fantastic.

Grylls takes the basketball legend deep into the woods — presumably where all of the VHS copies of Kazaam are buried – where he then gets an idea:

You know what we could do? I reckon if we collect all these leaves into a big pile like this, and then we get right inside it with our heads poking out.

Shaq, being as relatively normal a human being as possible, responds with this face:

Via youtube

Same, bud.

Eventually, Shaq gives in, camouflaging himself with wet leaves. Despite his initial reticence, he ends up getting way into it, saying he feels “like a big Christmas tree.” Oh honey, those don’t have leaves. Looks like you’ve got a way to go before you can call yourself a real woodsman.

(Via Bleacher Report)

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WATCH: Shaquille O’Neal Takes On The Wildness With Bear Grylls

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Shaquille O’Neal and Bear Grylls battled leeches and steep cliffs to find a way out of the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York on Monday’s episode of Running Wilde With Bear Grylls.

Move branch, get out the way. #RunningWild pic.twitter.com/ZtmG1B7yZz

— Running Wild (@NBCRunningWild) August 30, 2016

After two days of adventure, the pair finally made it to the main road. “Bear pushed me like Phil Jackson and Pat Riley,” said Shaq, “and I reached the mountaintop again.”

Watch the full episode here.

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WATCH: Shareef O’Neal and Jaxon Williams Play Ball at Shaq’s House

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Want to feel old? Peep the above video of Shaq’s kids Shareef and Shaqir hooping with Jason Williams’ son Jaxon.

The trio, along with Ronaldo Segu and Nasir Little, played pickup at Shaq’s massive crib in Florida while Home Team Hoops‘ cameras were rolling.

Related
Shaquille O’Neal’s Son To Train With Kobe Bryant
Jason Williams’ Son Jaxon “White Chocolate Jr.” Williams Hooping

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