NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal's son Shareef O'Neal from his former wife Shaunie Nelson was given a 16th birthday party filled with celebrities and stars. The teen was also given lavish gifts by his parents which include expensive vehicles.
According to the report from TMZ, O'Neal and Nelson gave their son a Lamborghini and a customized blue Jeep. This seems to be not-so-surprising as O'Neal's worth is more or less $250 million, and the Lamborghini's price starts only at $200,000.
"Ideally, the parent would give the teen a meaningful gift that gives the message that the parent values the teen and would rather spend time with the teen than anything else," Laura Markham, a child psychologist and author told Yahoo Parenting. "An example of that might be going off together on a backpacking trip for a week or at least a weekend, for quality time together."
TMZ also reported that Shareef's birthday party was attended by 400 guests which included Quincy and Christian, sons of hip-hop legend Sean "Diddy" Combs. Rap superstar Post Malone also performed during the over-the-top birthday party.
The Frugal Girl talked about the problem that is caused when parents shower their kids with luxurious gifts. "I think a large part of our children's problem is that their expectations are too high. And when that's the case, giving more and more every year won't fix the problem."
"Amy Dacyzyn talks about something in 'The Tightwad Gazette' that I think is relevant here," continues 'The Frugal Girl'. "She says if you take your children out for ice cream and they're not pleased unless they get something bigger and better every time, the solution is not to buy them more ice cream, but to buy them less."
Shaquille O'Neal's son Shareef should thank his legendary father not only for the expensive gifts for his 16th birthday but also for the amazing basketball genes he inherited from his dad. Shareef is a highly-talented 6' 7" high school basketball player from Windward High School already being recruited by the best college basketball team in the U.S.
