On Shaunie’s Home Court, Shaunie O’Neal, ex-wife of NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal, deals with her 17-year-old son Shareef. In the prior episode, the 6’9″ high school student and basketball player said he didn’t want to get his driver’s license because he didn’t want to stand on line at the DMV and have to be polite when people ask him about his height, basketball and/or his famous dad. But when his mother reminded him that his father (Shaq) told him he could have any car he wants, he changed his mind. Now Shareef tells his mother he wants a tattoo. (He’s 17 — by law, he needs her approval.) He say he wants a wolf, or a pack of wolves on his forearm. Shaunie’s not crazy about the wolf idea. She (who has 3 tattoos) explains it should have some meaning to it, in addition to looking cool.
In November 2017, Shareef revealed the new tattoo on his right forearm. In a bluish script, on top of a bed of flowers and leaves, it reads: “You were absent during my struggle, don’t expect to be present during my Success.” In the Home Team Hoops video below, Shareef talks about how when he was younger (13), some people thought he was just getting recognition on the court because he was Shaq’s son. Since he’s proven the naysayers wrong, they now want to work with him and he’s not buying it. He says that’s what he got the tattoo for: “So people know not to just jump on the band wagon when I prove everyone wrong again.” Shaunie’s Home Court airs Mondays at 10pm and 10:30pm on VH1, right after Basketball Wives.
