PHOENIX — Having appeared on reality TV shows since he was seven, Shaqir O’Neal recently celebrated his 16th birthday fittingly: Along with 400 guests at “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”-style party inside a rented Los Angeles mansion, with a vintage cab and “butler” on hand in the style of the popular 1990s sitcom.
O’Neal was given a $124,000 Mercedes G Wagon. Rapper Blueface performed and, not surprisingly, VH1 aired the lavish affair on its “Basketball Wives” show.
“We are pulling out all the stops for Shaqir’s big day,” Shaunie O’Neal told the cameras. She is the show’s executive producer and ex-wife of NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal.
Shaqir O’Neal’s longtime friend and roommate this week at the NCAA’s West Region basketball camp in Phoenix, Zaire Wade, has also been doused in a lifetime of glamour.
His father, Dwyane, led the Miami Heat to three NBA championships — and he and Shaquille O’Neal won one together in 2006.
“That’s my guy, Shaqir,” Zaire Wade said. “Another NBA son, so I may have the same mindset, you know, to make a name for ourselves.”
The goals of the NCAA’s new regional camps this week include giving players a chance to make a name for themselves and pick up some knowledge about life ahead as a college and possibly pro player.
Thanks to their famous fathers, O’Neal and Wade already have those things. But they are trying to make a different name for themselves, as legitimate college prospects in their own right.
A 6-foot-2-inch point guard in the Class of 2020, Wade said he already has scholarship offers from Nebraska, Rhode Island, DePaul and Toledo. He might pick up more while playing next season for powerhouse Sierra Canyon High School in California, where he is transferring to after moving from Florida.
O’Neal said he doesn’t have any scholarship offers yet but he’s only a rising junior at Santa Monica (California) Crossroads High School. The younger O’Neal is a smaller wing whose 6-4, 175-pound frame is noticeably smaller than that of his famous father and even of his older brother, Shareef, a combo forward who will play for UCLA as a redshirt freshman next season.
“I’d say I’m a really good shooter and I have handles, like a sneaky handle,” Shaqir O’Neal said. “I can get to the basket easy and I’m a good finisher.”
Overtime posted a video to Twitter last month in which Shaqir O’Neal broke free for a dunk in a pickup game, while his brother attempted unsuccessfully to stop him from behind.
But many of their earlier battles on the court weren’t so easy.
“We always played against each other,” Shaqir O’Neal said. “At my age he was a little bit taller but it was competitive. We used to cry.”
Shaqir O’Neal laughs with friend Zaire Wade during this week’s workouts in Phoenix. The two have bonded as sons of famous NBA players.
Shaqir O’Neal said his uncle would play with Shareef and Shaquille sometimes in pickup games, but that he was too young to play in those. Besides, Shaqir O’Neal said, he didn’t really become serious abut basketball until age 14.
Zaire Wade has had more opportunity to play one-on-one with his dad. He said he’s picked up some confidence as the gap between their skills narrows. The two have another matchup scheduled soon.
“Last time, he got me,” Zaire Wade said. “But I think I got him this time. So we’ll see.”
But whenever the two sons play in front of fans, no matter who it is against, it’s also difficult for another reason: The eyes that are following them, in part because of their last names.
“It’s a lot of pressure,” Shaqir O’Neal said.
Zaire Wade has seen crowds even in the mostly closed-off environment of the NCAA camp at Grand Canyon University this week. Most of the camp games are attended by only a handful of coaches or relatives. Wade, meanwhile, has played in front of dozens of coaches, family and media every time.
But by now, he’s used to it.
“When I was growing up, I felt like it was a lot of pressure,” he said. “Everybody was telling me I had to be as good as he was. But as I got older, it started to fade away. I started to play my game. It really just made me perform better. Everybody expects me to do something, so I guess I gotta do it.”
“I wouldn’t call it pressure. I call it life. I was born into this life, so it is what it is.”
