Shareef O’Neal shuts down troll over Bronny James’ cardiac incident

Shareef O’Neal did not take kindly to the idea of getting jokingly blamed for Bronny James’ scary medical emergency.
James, the son of Lakers superstar LeBron James and an incoming freshman on USC’s basketball team, suffered cardiac arrest while practicing on Monday, the family confirmed on Tuesday morning.
O’Neal, the son of NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal and a friend of Bronny’s, underwent open heart surgery in 2018 before the start of his college basketball career.
One troll seemed to imply that the heart issues were contagious, and blamed O’Neal for his friend’s heart attack.
“Bronny started hanging with Shareef and now look,” the troll’s tweet said, according to TMZ. “@SSJreef stay yo ass away from him he’s destined for greatness not overseas 😆”
O’Neal, who took a medical redshirt as a true freshman in the 2018-19 season stemming from his heart issue, fired back at the callousness of the comment.
“That is very disrespectful of you to say,” Shareef responded, in a tweet that he has since deleted. “I’ve been around Bronny for a very long time before this happened … I’ll pray for you. You need help … sick that you would even say something like that 🤦🏾‍♂️🤦🏾‍♂️🤦🏾‍♂️#dummy.”
Shareef O’Neal slammed a troll who suggested Bronny James suffered cardiac arrest after hanging out with him. NBAE via Getty Images
O’Neal played in college at UCLA and LSU, and has played professionally on the G League Ignite.
The James family issued a statement about Bronny’s medical situation on Tuesday morning.
“(Monday) while practicing, Bronny James suffered a cardiac arrest,” the statement said.
Bronny James suffered cardiac arrest at basketball practice on Monday. Getty Images
“Medical staff was able to treat Bronny and take him to the hospital. He is now in stable condition and no longer in ICU. We ask for respect and privacy for the James family and we will update media when there is more information.”
Prayers came out from all over the basketball world for Bronny’s recovery.
“Cookie and I are praying for LeBron and Savannah’s son Bronny after hearing he suffered a cardiac arrest. We are praying and hoping he makes a full and speedy recovery,” former Lakers legend Magic Johnson tweeted.