Florida’s Me'Arah O'Neal posts heartwarming throwback snap for father Shaquille O'Neal’s special day

Former NBA great Shaquille O'Neal turned a year older on Thursday as his daughter, Me'Arah O'Neal, shared birthday greetings on Instagram. The Florida Gators guard posted a black-and-white picture of the two, from when she was young.

"happy birthday," she wrote.

After taking visits to her father's alma mater, LSU, with Angel Reese showing her around, Me'Arah joined the Gators in 2024.

During his Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction speech in 2016, Shaquille O'Neal introduced each of his six children, who he shared with Shaunie Henderson, and about Me'Arah he said:

"I don't like to put pressure on my babies, but she works out with my sons and I think it's fair to say one day, if she continues, Me'Arah will probably be the best women's basketball player ever. She's that good."

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Me'Arah O'Neal tries to make a name for herself with the Gators

Me'Arah O'Neal is playing her freshman year at Florida, averaging 4.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 0.6 assists while shooting 40.7% from the floor. While she is nowhere near the player that her father was, Me'Arah is trying her best to establish herself.

The guard comes from a basketball family as her brother, Shareef O'Neal played for the UCLA Bruins from 2018 to 2020. He transferred to LSU for the next two seasons before declaring the 2022 NBA draft. After he went undrafted, Shareef played two years in the NBA G League.

Shaqir O'Neal first played two years at Texas Southern before joining Florida A&M as a redshirt junior this season.

With all the basketball chat around her, Me'Arah O'Neal is trying to find her space and she spoke about it in a 2023 interview with ESPN.

"My dad always tells me that pressure makes diamonds," Me'Arah said. "I always try to keep that with me, especially in those moments where everyone is watching. I'm just trying to do me and make myself proud.

"I'm pretty sure a lotta people expect me to play just like my dad. Strong, big post player, runnin' through people, what Shaq does. But I'm not that. The biggest expectation is to turn out like my dad. But fulfilling that name, that's not really my goal. ... I just wanna be my own person and make a name for myself. And I think I'm doing that pretty well."

Me'Arah and the Gators are enjoying a great run in the SEC Tournament as they defeated Auburn and Alabama in the first two rounds.