2004 forum votes for the top 30 players in the NBA. I don't know if I can do this," Asjia said to Mesha on the phone after one of her first spring practice sessions during her redshirt freshman year at Texas in 2019. Jermaine O'Neal indicated he's feeling better after knee soreness forced him to sit out the second half of Monday's loss in Dallas, but he said he wouldn't know his status for Thursday until after the team's morning shootaround on game day. As soon as she was cleared to play, she was back on the volleyball court. [41] In 25 games, he averaged 5.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game. O'Neal has become a leader for Texas, the national runner-up to Kentucky a year ago. And the intensity of volleyball was putting too much stress on her cardiovascular system. I remember recovering so quickly and going out there and playing and feeling great.". O'Neal looks at the official who made the call, her face scrunched up, her palms wide open, What was that about? When she was a toddler, her father, Jermaine O'Neal, was at the peak of his 18-season NBA career. . While watching O'Neal on the volleyball court, it is easy to forget that just 22 months ago, she could not sit up, let alone elevate her entire body to make a kill. Catching her breath, Asjia narrated how a routine checkup turned into a nightmare. [1] O'Neal kept up his form into the playoffs as well, averaging almost 9.8 points and 12.5 boards a game in the first round against the Philadelphia 76ers,[7] although the series was short-lived as the latter emerged victorious in four games.[19]. O'Neal is a Christian. Holding her mother's hands tight, she remembered how this hurt after her first surgery, and the tubes were bigger this time. "And I'm like, 'Well, then why do I feel like this?'". Brad Miller's father-in-law and Tinsley's mother died during the season, and just before the playoffs, O'Neal's stepfather attempted suicide. But more important than anything, she wants to inspire young girls -- young Black girls -- that anything is possible. Shaq has two sisters- Lateefah and Ayesha- and a brother- Jamal. [7] In the meantime, the Trail Blazers continued to build on the success of their previous campaign. "Thank you," she says and smiles politely. "Asjia is a spitting image of me, but she is better -- a much better version of me," said Jermaine, who went straight from high school to the NBA. "We'll figure this out," Gabriel said, handing O'Neal a piece of chocolate cake they had brought back from the Longhorns' last-day-of-spring-training celebration. A month after Texas' season ended, O'Neal walked into Cleveland Clinic in a green dressing gown, ready to have her heart cut open -- again. She nudges the ball over the net, and the referee blows the whistle. #NBAThrowback #NBAStory #PacersUse promo code AMHOOPS when signing-up to get a FREE shot at the ONE MILLION Dollar top prize with their first deposit. UT is also erecting a statue of Heman M. Sweatt, the first Black student admitted into the UT Law School, who fought and won a Supreme Court case that paved the way for desegregation at colleges and universities across the country. [13] However, the new deal did not translate into more playing time for the power forward in the 19992000 season. "It's not safe for you to play volleyball anymore.". "What she has, she's had for more than a year now.". All along, she was plotting her comeback. Now, she's somewhere in the high 90s. Jermaine O'Neal - News - IMDb The trade was finalized on July 9, 2008.[30]. "All the hard days and hard nights to be put in that position that's special," Jermaine said. [6] While fans at the Rose Garden harbored thoughts of an upset against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs,[3] the Trail Blazers succumbed in four games.