A really nice family moment for our man Shaq and his daughter MeArah O’Neal this week. It happened Thursday night (as of this posting date) on the regular TNT “Inside the NBA” broadcast. Did you see it?
Me’Arah O’Neal is a senior at Episcopal High School in Houston, Texas. She’s already near the top of the list as one of the highest-rated high school basketball players in the country. On the broadcast of Inside the NBA, her father and the rest of the crew got the honor of presenting her with her McDonald’s All-American jersey. Pretty cool when one of the all-time greats of the game gets to present a young player with a top high school honor… even cooler when that top player happens to be your father!
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The younger O’Neal has already led Episcopal to the SPC 4A state championship earlier this year. She’s also announced plans to become a Florida Gator when college time comes for her. See previous posts here on the ShaqFu Radio blog for that big “reveal.”
The McDonald’s All-American team and program is one of the most prestigious in the nation when it comes to honoring great high school players from all over the U.S. For Me’Arah, she won’t have to go far to play in the annual McDonald’s All-American Game. It’s set for Tuesday, April 2 at Houston’s Toyota Center.
With the presentation of the McDonald’s award to Me’Arah O’Neal coming live on TV, with the rest of the Inside the NBA crew on hand, you know there would have to be some pretty wicked jokes and jabs. Co-host Kenny Smith started it off by saying young Me’Arah was the best basketball player in the O’Neal family! Still, it was a good moment for Smith, too. He was a McDonald’s All-American himself, back in 1983. He was named one of the two MVP’s of the men’s game, alongside Bobby Hurley.
Not surprisingly, Sir Charles also came in for some of the jokes and insults, Smith reminded him (again) of his empty personal trophy case. Despite a great career, Barkley never won a lot of personal accolades as a player. Yes, he is an NBA Hall-of-Famer, but not a McDonald’s All-American.
Still, Barkley probably got the last laugh on that matter, saying that even with now award, he said, “I eat at McDonald’s a lot.” Master of the comeback!
Not to be outdone, Shaq took it upon himself to issue a challenge… who would win a three-point shooting contest, Me’Arah or Kenny Smith? The shootoff didn’t happen – Kenny backed out – but Me’Arah did make a couple of three-pointers, live on TV!
Huge congrats to Me’Arah for the McDonald’s honor… It’s a really big deal in high school sports. Hats off to her father for doing his part to raise a great kid…