Shaq O'Neal's son Shaqir O'Neal shares unseen snaps of "big brother" Shareef O'Neal on his 25th birthday

Shaqir O'Neal, son of NBA legend, Shaquille O'Neal, celebrated his big brother Shareef O'Neal's 25th birthday on Saturday. The younger O'Neal took to Instagram Story to share unseen photos of himself with his older brother.

The snaps were captioned:

"Happy birthday to my big brother and one of my biggest role models! Love you!"

Shaqir O'Neal celebrates elder brother, Shareef O'Neal who turned 25 on Saturday Jan. 11. IG image via @shaqironeal)

Shaqir and brother Shareef O'Neal (image via @shaqironeal)

https://www.instagram.com/stories/shaqironeall/3542951382581126014/

The O'Neal brothers followed in their famous father's footsteps to play basketball. Shareef played college basketball with UCLA before transferring to LSU after undergoing heart surgery. He last played for the NBA G League Ignite after going undrafted in the 2022 NBA draft.

Shaqir is in his junior year at the Florida A&M Rattlers, where he is averaging 9.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 0.7 assists on 50.0 percent shooting.

"I love this place": Shaqir O'Neal talks about his transfer to Florida A&M

Shaqir O'Neal is carving his own path in his first year on Florida A&M’s men’s basketball team. The redshirt junior transferred to FAMU from Texas Southern and has already made great impressions with the Rattlers.

However, the junior forward wants to be known for more than just being the son of Basketball Hall of Famer and four-time NBA champion Shaquille O’Neal.

"“I want to build a name for myself in Tallahassee. I love this place,” O'Neal said in an interview with Tallahassee Democrat in December. “I’m not going to let anybody down. I want to make FAMU proud.”

Prior to joining FAMU, O'Neal struggled with playing time in his two seasons with fellow Southwestern Athletic Conference school Texas Southern, where he averaged 1.6 points per game. Despite the limited playing time, he helped the Tigers win the 2022 and 2023 SWAC Championships.

The 6-foot-8 forward entered the NCAA Transfer Portal following the 2023-2024 season. Initially, there was no interest from other teams due to his unimpressive statistics at Texas Southern. But first-year FAMU head coach Patrick Crarey II was ready to take a chance on the struggling player after inquiring from Shaquille O’Neal and Shareef O’Neal.

“I entered the portal to bet on myself. I had bad stats, averaged one point a game, and had no other interest,” O’Neal said. “Coach Pat ran into my dad and brother and said he’s willing to take a chance on me. He came and checked me out during the summer. Coach Pat gave me an opportunity.”

Shaqir O'Neal's Florida A&M is 3-10 in the Southwestern Athletic this season. The Rattlers next take on Grambling State Tigers on Jan. 14.