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, 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, . “@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.”
Here's everything to know about Bronny James' cardiac arrest
Bronny James, the 18-year-old son of NBA superstar LeBron James, went into cardiacಌ arrest during a basketball practice with his team at the University of Southern California on Monday.
Cedars-Sinai Medical Group cardiologist Merije Chukumerije said in a statement Thursday that Bronny “has been discharged home, where he is restiꦡng.”
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It’s too soon to know how Bronny’s episode will affect his basket✱ball career, since it largely depends o🍌n the underlying causes of the cardiac arrest.
“When they come up with a mechanism for why he had the cardiac arrest, you could then and only then make an informed decision regarding his recovery and his ability to go back on the court,” Dr. Marc Cohen, Chairman of the D🥂epartment of Medicine at Newark-Beth Israel Medical Center, told The P⛄ost.
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 Jaꦕmes suffered a cardiac arrest,” the statement said.
“Medical staff was able to treat Bronny and take him ꦦto 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.
